If you like living in your hometown, have a job you love, then there is no logical reason to move. You can however, take weekends to go visit your friend in the big city, and have fun together. That way, you can maintain your closeness. Geographical distance doesn't (or shouldn't) effect friendships that are akin to kinship.

I have friends who live in other countries, who are bosom buddies to me. We can Google chat, Facebook Video each other, as if we just saw each other in person the last time we actually did. We've known each other for 20 years, so whenever we do call each other or video chat with each other, it's like there's no ocean between us at all.

I also have friends who live in other states, and we do the same thing. Our friendship isn't effected by the geographical distance (except for one friendship that I posted about in another thread here). Good friends will stay in touch with you, especially close friends.

It's only 8 hours. That's not too far, to drive to see each other, and spend the weekend hanging out together. Until you get a new car, take the bus or train to your friend's city. Try that for a while and see how it goes. Maybe at some point, as you get to know the city your friend moves to, you may decide to move out of your hometown and in with your friend. By then, you'll know city because of how much time you spent hanging out with your friend there on the weekends you visited her.

I did that before I moved to a new city. I would drive 8 hours to visit my cousins who lived in another state, on the weekends, because I was thinking about moving to that city but wasn't sure I wanted to leave the security I had at the time (also living at home, having just returned from living abroad). I spent a good two months driving on the weekends to stay with my cousins, and get to know the city they lived in. Then I found some childhood friends by accident who also lived there. So I made arrangements to move in with them temporarily, while also registering with temporary agencies ahead of time. By the time I moved in with my childhood friends, I had a temp job lined up, in a city I had spent two months getting to know, so the transition was very smooth. I'd do that again to wherever I move to next. Also, it helps to have a year's savings to cover rent and food and utilities costs.