Wow, that's crazy. I guess supply and demand, not a huge housing stock in Boise so even a modest bump in in-movers smoked out of Cali could really move the market. Hope you get a good price for your old place.

I’ve never lived in Texas, but check those flood maps carefully if you’re buying in a costal area or a hurricane zone. Would suck to trade fire for flood.

Many would disagree with your suggestion that what we all learned in the classroom back in the day was the “real history” that’s now being perverted and hidden, but then we’d essentially be debating politics (school board politics, but still). Which isn’t where OP was going with this. He did a bit of editorializing in his first post, of course, but it was mainly in service of explaining what he’s looking for in a new hometown, which seems fair enough. I don’t have to agree with him or what he says he wants out of life to respect his right to go out and try to find it.

I don’t think anyone would deny that, though this thread underlines that those are both highly subjective judgments.

Are you looking for a state where you can bank on the other party having full control? If so take a close look at more recent voting trends and demographics in Texas, it may be trending toward a purple future that you wouldn’t enjoy. If you can tolerate a purple state so long as your hometown is red that gives you a lot more flexibility. But if statewide politics are a bigger concern than local politics, you might be better off picking a more rural red state where it’s harder to imagine much changing politically in the next 10-20 years.

Your pinside location is still listed as Marblehead MA - quit living in the past!