What is wrong with your situation? Make friends where you are. If you live close to your wife's family make friends with them.
If there is something wrong with your current situation, then perhaps you and your wife need to talk this over. Maybe you need to move to get away from whatever is wrong. Are you old friends new hobbies/interests things that you could get into, and their wives someone your wife could become friends with - if so great: move back and renew your former connections as it will be easy to break in. If not maybe moving a long way to where both of you have no friends is the right answer so you can start over. Make sure you choose a place where want to join a local culture, not the same things you are trying to get away from.
Nothing is wrong. We moved to be closer to family which in retrospect was a great decision and one I'm still happy with. We don't have much of a social circle here outside of that, but we have kids < 2 so it's hard to get out too too much anyway.
If there is something wrong with your current situation, then perhaps you and your wife need to talk this over. Maybe you need to move to get away from whatever is wrong. Are you old friends new hobbies/interests things that you could get into, and their wives someone your wife could become friends with - if so great: move back and renew your former connections as it will be easy to break in. If not maybe moving a long way to where both of you have no friends is the right answer so you can start over. Make sure you choose a place where want to join a local culture, not the same things you are trying to get away from.