We are going to be buried with data soon. While we probably won't find a planet just sitting there waiting for new tenants, we will find so many close enough to earthlike [like Mars or Venus] that it will be hard to keep ourselves focused so exclusively on earth's little problems. A lot more people will be taking an interest in how to get from earth to someplace 50 lightyears away.
I happen to be one of those people who wants to get away from 100 lightyears away... 50 is too close...