[ubuntu] Update 14.04 -> 16.04 using fresh install

I tried to upgrade to 16.04 using the upgrade process, but my system got hosed. Fortunately, I had a backup and restored it with no problems. Now I am considering doing a fresh install. My issue is, I do not have a separate ~/ partition. I am wondering if I should backup ~/, do the fresh install over my existing system, and then restore my ~/ over the new one or should I merge it or should I selectively replace certain files/directories, etc. Any guidance here?

This got duplicated when the Forums went down just as I was posting. Perhaps a moderator could remove one of these.