After having lived and flown in both regions, I'd say the weather is much
worse in the Midwest. The extremes of temperature are much greater in the
Midwest, and the winds tend to be a lot stronger.

Icing- ever fly over Lake Michigan? Much worse than the lift over the
Adirondacks and Green Mountains. Thunderstorms?- When was the last time New
Hampshire had a tornado?

Subjectively, I'd say the weather in the Midwest is a lot more challenging
than in the Northeast.

On the original thread, having the IFR rating just provides the extra
comfort level- why scud run when you can pop through a few thousand feet of
clouds to CAVU on top?

Besides, doing all of the approaches, especially with the VNAV and LDP
approaches, is fun. Tracking an NDB course outbound with a howling
quartering tail wind can be real fun- then do it at night in IMC with some
turbulence. It's all fun.