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Compare also Willie's feedback here that this is perfectly legitimate, at least in his eyes.

However, when I flagged this question for possible transfer to cross-validated, as I consider it a much better fit there, it was declined with the I believe auto-generated feedback "declined - vote to close as off-topic," which I read as meaning that instead of suggesting questions for transfer, I should instead vote to close them.

Note that my question is not a(nother) request to transfer the specific question, nor do I ask as the refusal irks me particularly. It is a procedural question as the feedback sounds as if transfers are discouraged. Is that so?

Edit: On re-reading my own question, while the feedback sounded auto-generated, it might have been typed out as is by a moderator who might have a preference against transfers, which is well within his rights. If this is the case, I would rather delete my question as it could be (wrongly) perceived as personal, when it is meant merely procedural, for the general, not specific case.

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There is no stock decline reason like this, so a moderator typed this as the decline reason.

In the general case, for a question to be migrated it should be actually off-topic on this site. It is perfectly acceptable if a question would fit on two SE sites, it should not be migrated then. Migrating a question is rather disruptive, moderators tend to be rather careful about using their universal migration privilege.

If a question is off-topic, and you know of an SE site where it would fit you should close as off-topic and flag for moderator attention, explaining that it should be migrated.

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    $\begingroup$ Thanks for clarifying the stackexchange system view of this. Accepting answers doesn't matter much on meta, but I'll unaccept the other one for now, and let this open a bit longer to make it more likely other users see both answers. $\endgroup$ – gnometorule Mar 2 '13 at 21:51
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Your question here is perfectly fine. And indeed if you think that a question should be moved to another site, then vote to close the question as off topic.

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    $\begingroup$ Thanks, Thomas. Just to make sure I understand correctly what you mean: do you mean (1) vote to close as off topic as, if I think it should be transferred, it should actually be closed instead, or (2) vote to close as off topic to indicate I suggest a transfer? In case of (2), how would a moderator be able to understand what I really mean? $\endgroup$ – gnometorule Mar 2 '13 at 19:43
  • $\begingroup$ @gnometorule: The proper way to move a question is to close it as off topic. Maybe before you cast you vote, you can add a comment saying where you think that it should be moved to. So the right understanding would be (2). There are other reasons for closing a question such as a question being a duplicate of an already existing question. $\endgroup$ – Thomas Mar 2 '13 at 19:47
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    $\begingroup$ @gnometorule: vote to close as off-topic, and if there is a better place for it, add a comment to that effect. A moderator can unilaterally migrate a question, but it is preferable if the decision is made by community votes. In case the desired destination is not one of the options presented when voting to close, a moderator will still have to migrate the question once it is closed. $\endgroup$ – robjohn♦ Mar 2 '13 at 19:49
  • $\begingroup$ @robjohn Just a remark: gnometorule cannot yet vote to close. $\endgroup$ – user53153 Mar 2 '13 at 22:18
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    $\begingroup$ @5pm: I didn't check gnometorule's reputation; I was simply mentioning the usual method for the community to migrate a question. If one does not have enough reputation to cast a vote, there are two things they can do: 1. leave a comment and hope those who have enough reputation will vote. 2. flag a moderator suggesting the vote. Flagging a moderator for something that one does not have enough reputation to do may prompt a moderator to take unilateral action if the situation clearly requires it. Otherwise, a moderator will probably not cast 5 votes when only 1 person thought it should be cast. $\endgroup$ – robjohn♦ Mar 2 '13 at 22:54

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