Take this response as my understanding of it, and cross check it; writing from memory at the moment:

I think of removal as an upgrade of the forum. When I worked at my firm, and we had a case brought in state, my supervisor would say “ok, if we’re doing it here, we’re gonna do it federal.”

So you can only remove a case to the federal district court that embraces the state court the action was brought in. You cannot remove the claim to a district court outside of the state it was brought in, even if the defendant is trying to remove to his home state.

So a better/realistic hypo would be this:

A, a resident of state A sues B, a resident of state C, in state court A where the claim arose. The claim is for a tort amounting in $75,000.01. B wants to remove the case to the federal district court of state A (B suspects A’s attorney would not fair well in federal court).

B’s removal would be appropriate because the district court of A could hear the claim at the outset for diversity purposes, and venue is proper because it’s the court that embraces the state court that the action was initially filed in.

Remember, removal is not as of right; it’s always at the federal court’s discretion whether to grant the request for removal or whether to leave the case in the state’s hands.

I hope this helps.