There are few bigger chores than moving. It’s really more than a mere chore – a super chore, if you will – to move, as you have to bundle up a seemingly endless amount of smaller chores to make it happen. For more than 2 million people in the U.S. last year, one of those tasks was “renting a U-Haul.”

In 2025, a massive number of those trucks were making their way to the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, and one suburb north of Dallas specifically. The recently released U-Haul Growth Index named Dallas as the leading “growth metro” in the U.S., with McKinney showing up as the No. 6 leading “growth city” in the country.  Unsurprisingly, Texas ranked as the No. 1 “growth state” in the study. 

“U-Haul customers arriving in Texas accounted for 50.7% of all one-way traffic in and out of the state last year (49.3% leaving),” the announcement for the annual survey noted. “Compared to 2024, customers coming to Texas rose 3% YOY while departures rose just 1% YOY. Texas also ranked first on the U-Haul Growth Index from 2016-18 and 2021-23.” 

There are plenty of brand-sponsored surveys that one should not take very seriously, but it’s likely not a stretch to take U-Haul’s numbers seriously, given their market dominance over the past few decades. 

U-Haul ranked states by their net gain or loss of more than 2.5 million customers in the U.S. and Canada who rented a one-way truck, trailer or moving containers in one state and dropped off their equipment in another state.

For regular readers of the Observer, McKinney finding itself high atop such a list is less surprising than yet another disappointing Dallas Cowboys’ season. In the past few months alone, McKinney has been named the best U.S. city for renters and the ninth safest suburb in the country. 

McKinney received high marks in the SmartAsset safety report in areas that people looking for a new place to call home would certainly be interested in, such as a low violent crime rate, a low property crime rate, a low number of traffic deaths, and a low number of reported drug overdoses. 

As for North Texas, the U-Haul honor is nothing new either. 

“Second verse, same as the first. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area once again takes top honors as the No. 1 U-Haul growth metro, replicating its 2024 honor with the greatest net gain of one-way customers during 2025,” the announcement read.

Reports on the number of people moving to the DFW area each year range from 170,000 to 200,000. Other warm-weather states and metro areas figured prominently inthe U-Haul Index, including Florida and Arizona. 

And since we in Dallas always like to beat Houston and Austin in just about anything, it’s worth noting that they were behind Dallas in the No. 2 and No. 3 sports, respectively.

Game date, time and location: Thursday, Jan. 15, 7:30 p.m. EST, Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Sun (South Florida), NBC Sports Boston

Radio: 104.3 FM (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale), ESPN 106.3 FM, (West Palm Beach), FOX Sports Radio 105.9 FM (Ft. Myers/Naples), 1450 AM (Suart), 97.7 FM (Florida Keys), WAQI 710 AM (Spanish-language broadcast, South Florida), 98.5 FM The Sports Hub (Boston)

VITALS: The Miami Heat (21-19) and Boston Celtics (24-15) meet for the second of four regular season matchups. Earlier this season, the Celtics recorded a, 129-116, win in Boston on December 19. The Heat are 54-87 all-time versus the Celtics during the regular season, including 30-42 in home games and 24-45 in road games.

PROJECTED STARTERS

HEAT

G Davion Mitchell

G Tyler Herro

C Bam Adebayo

F Norman Powell

F Andrew Wiggins

CELTICS

G Payton Pritchard

G Derrick White

C Neemias Queta

F Jaylen Brown

F Sam Hauser

Spread: Heat +2 (-112), Celtics -2 (-108)

Moneyline: Heat +108, Celtics -126

Total points scored: 233.5 (over -110, under -110)

INJURY REPORT

HEAT

Jaime Jaquez Jr.: Questionable – Knee

Tyler Herro: Probable – Toe/Ribs

Davion Mitchell: Doubtful – Shoulder

Nikola Jovic: Probable – Knee

Terry Rozier: Out – Not with team

CELTICS

Josh Minott: Out – Hamstring

Jayson Tatum: Out – Achilles

QUOTABLE

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra: “I think now we have positive teaching points from this. We’re going to conquer the third quarter. We’ve had so many incredible first halves, even in the games that we’ve lost. If we can get some of these games, like even where we play poorly in the third, just get to the fourth, we have great competitors in our locker room.

They love these kind of moments where it’s electric in there and you have to make big plays. So it was good to see us overcome the third quarter, there was a little bit of a glitch there where we kind of went back to some of the things that get us in trouble.”

For more Miami Heat information and conversation, check out Off The Floor.

Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at Twitter: @tropicalblanket

Before 2100 West Wesley Road became Salubria, it was a small riverside ranch home sitting on 15 acres of undeveloped land. But in 1995, a buyer tore the home down—ostensibly to build something that would make better use of the lot—and enlisted renowned Atlanta architect Norman Askins to execute her vision.

Askins and his wife traveled to Europe to source the foundations of the newly-named estate’s guesthouse: Jerusalem stone to form the floors and exterior facade, Spanish tile for the roof, wood for the dramatic beams above the living and dining areas. The resulting structure—constructed almost entirely of imported materials—is American in address only; 24 years later, it presented the perfect fit for listing agent Katherine McClure’s clients, who purchased the property in 2019. Fresh off of a trip to Europe, they were determined to find a bigger lot similar to some of the sprawling properties they had encountered abroad.

Photograph courtesy of Ansley Real Estate

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Photograph courtesy of Ansley Real Estate

Photograph courtesy of Ansley Real Estate

Salubria certainly grants that wish, but “big” doesn’t begin to describe what is one of Atlanta’s largest privately held tracts of land. Concealed from street view by white gates, outdoorsy types could easily enjoy walking along the Chattahoochee River, taking one of the trails that wind through the on-property woods, or sitting by the pond without ever encountering another soul. “It’s very private, being one of the only properties on the Chattahoochee that’s not in the floodplain,” Katherine says. “Getting to hike on your own land is my favorite thing here. It feels like you’re out on a farm and you’re going to see sheep any minute.” (Although none have been spotted yet, she shares that grazing deer will occasionally greet you as you roll up the driveway.)

Photograph courtesy of Ansley Real Estate

Photograph courtesy of Ansley Real Estate

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Photograph courtesy of Ansley Real Estate

The original owner’s models for a massive main home addition never materialized, so what’s on the market today is the original three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath guesthouse. Lime-washed plaster walls and rustic wood accents keep it true to its European roots, while relaxing is made easy next to a cozy fireplace in the step-down living room. Every space in the house transports you to a slower time; don’t expect to find an AI-enabled oven or touchscreen fridge in the kitchen, which instead features charming antique appliances retrofitted for modern use.

Photograph courtesy of Ansley Real Estate

Photograph courtesy of Ansley Real Estate

Photograph courtesy of Ansley Real Estate

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The home is situated at one of Atlanta’s highest elevations, offering expansive and stunning views of the river. “Being in the living room with all the windows overlooking the water gives you that true guesthouse experience,” Katherine says. “And I love the surprise factor of being in town yet feeling like you’re miles away.”

Photograph courtesy of Ansley Real Estate

Salubria, which translates to “healthful” from the Latin word “salubris,” is an aptly named opportunity to own unprecedented access to tranquility. This slice of countryside in the city, located at 2100 West Wesley Road, is on the market for $7,500,000. For more information, contact Katherine McClure of Ansley Real Estate at 404.895.0170,  katherinemcclure@ansleyre.com; or contact Jane Cross of Ansley Real Estate at 404.788.7722, jane@ansleyre.com.

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