at the risk of inflaming the owners, traders and the "community", your question not only is direct to the point, but doesn't produce what you're ultimately seeking, which is affirmation / confirmation of "individual" choice.
Individual choice weighs factors:
.. like convenience to your home (commute time),
.. quality of peers (fellow traders available at that office),
.. style (whether you fit into the atmosphere or not),
.. pricing (commission costs vs. trading volumes),
.. services (advanced trading tactics and support to do them),
.. timing (what seems right at your point in time).
These are all highly subjective (individual) choices, of which some influence is derived from these discussion boards. However, when you commit millions to building a firm, which takes on your own personality, and then have it derided without basis (sometimes with basis), then you can understand the responses that the owners have weighed in on. I'm in reference to Don Bright, Gene Weisman, and other seniors/owners of their firms.
Might I suggest that we clarify/classify our comments to those "individual" subjective decision factors, as outlined above. That way, all those reading the responses can either identify with them or not, but at least their comments will have some "residual" value, instead of just steam being blown off.