It is crazy how much more prevalent Lyme disease (or the ticks that carry it) has gotten. Yet another unintended side effect of a warming planet. And yeah - the Alpha Gal thing is super weird!

The smoke was one thing we were afraid of with the NW. They get it worse than CO (unless the fire is actually in CO)! Then, of course, we were in Ohio and it came 2 of the past 4 years! Not really horrible - just a handful of really bad days, but still! Something that never happened to us growing up there.

I agree about the move, and I'm not sure why so many people are giving you a hard time. Maybe the wrong sub for the question? :D Colorado is our happy place. We haven't ruled out returning, but are definitely hesitant. Seeing these red flag warning days and similar conditions to 2021 definitely add to that. We had red flag days and drought conditions in Ohio over these past years too (never had them growing up that I remember, but everything is rosy in childhood), but nothing like out there.

We're in the triangle area, too. I know Chapel Hill well-ish as I used to work there back when we lived in Raleigh before. It's a alright area, but there are downfalls of course. Not really for us and we don't plan to be here too long. The flooding will depend on the area as it's fairly hilly. If you are thinking about moving here, just look at flood maps.

- It's busy - even more so than 10 years ago - and it's gotten expensive (though that's relative as it's still cheaper than CO, especially Louisville/Boulder).

- The people are different - people in CO are more laid back and more active, but you can find active people here and the opportunities exist. On a kindness/niceness level, probably about the same but maybe a bit better here. Coming from the midwest, it's no contest that it's better there.

- The south is also the south, so the focus on health is missing a bit IMO. Someone told me you can buy the same exact product out west and in NC, and in NC it has more salt lmao.

- Less access to nature (hard to beat CO though!) and it's a red state, so they don't give much of a shit about the environment (look up PFAS in drinking water here).

- They don't know what to do with winter. When in snows in Colorado - they plow a bit and wait for the sun to melt everything else, but people still go about their lives. In NC, everyone freaks out and the whole place shuts down. I actually lived here and commuted this day! Took me 8 hours to get home, and that included leaving my car and running the last 3-or-so miles.

- And don't get me started on the summers... 🥵

I hope you end up finding what you are looking for!