1 Austin is EXPENSIVE! Don't know about Dallas and Houston, but I can tell you about San Antonio. For a large city, its relatively cheap, the unemployment rate is low, and the food is great.
Plus there are a number of superb colleges and universities.....don't know exactly what you're looking for, but those are some of the highlights.
2 I don't know where you live and why you're moving. But, this website can help you plan:bestplaces.net/city/If you aren't retired, it might be wise to find a job first. That will dictate where you may choose to live.
I don't know Texas well like others in AV like OH above. You can get online data on unemployment across the State. You can also see changes in population which can tell you where people are going/leaving.
If you were heading for NY State, I'd say get a job before moving to Upstate NY. With the exception of a couple counties, they've been facing an economic decline for some time. I am sure Texans know which parts of the state have been hard hit economically.
If you don't need a job, then some of those areas may offer you real estate deals.
Rural East Texas (where I live) is extremely conservative, and very intolerant of anyone who is not like-minded. Conservative churches pretty much run the show here. (I'm a Catholic, I've been told more than once that I'm not saved.) The typical greeting is, " The Houston and Dallas areas are very vibrant, lively, and cosmopolitan, with very active art and theater scenes.
There are lots of great restaurants and things to do. Both areas have large Hispanic communities in Houston has a huge Asian community.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.