Recently I’ve been living next to an illegal and poorly run STR operation and I can now better empathize with folks who strongly oppose them.

However, I am thinking of having my parents who are retired living there part of the year and doing STR for the remainder of the time.

Quote from @Sarah Kensinger: Boston is not STR friendly unless you live in the property.

Should I be budgeting significantly more sense people are in and out of the property versus them living in a long time? 

It depends how long you plan on living.

I live in El Paso, TX and would like to invest close to home first before venturing in long-distance.

I'm originally from the area and have been starting to look at some properties there as I am living in New Jersey.

So - somewhere 2 hours away, or somewhere you like to vacation in, or where all your family lives, or where you plan to move someday.Too many people are trying to do exactly what you're doing - pick a market based on a formula - and they end up buying a random 'cheap' property thousands of miles away, turn it over to people they've never met or even spoken to, and then... lose money.  

I live in the Champaign area.

I live in New Jersey area.