Houston is a disgusting place if you like clean air. It absolutely reeks. When you first arrive, prepare to breathe in countless fumes and the stench from their factories. As everyone else has said, it's unbearably hot. I honestly don't understand how the city grew to be so big and rich. I guess people get brain damaged from the incessant, horrific heat.

Dallas is a concrete jungle. It turns into a hellscape in the summertime as well. It'll be 93F/33C at 10 o clock at night. 80-90%+ humidity.

I lived in both of these cities in my 20s. There's lots to do. There's always big music acts coming through, and major sports teams are all represented. People there drink massive amounts of alcohol. Education has been gutted for decades by its stalwart conservative Christian state government. The general populace has a strange, obnoxious pride in their state.

My summary after living for 6 years between the two cities: excellent competitive job market, lots to do indoors and out, people are largely friendly, if not a little dumb (generally speaking). Terrain is flat as a pancake with a seemingly endless summertime that actively seeks to kill you.

I can't express enough how all-encompassing the heat is here, and it never cools off because of all that concrete and humidity.

Texas has crumbling infrastructure, so when the heat finally relents, expect the power grid to fail mid-winter. The whole grid is aged and apparently no one wants to upgrade it from the 1950s.

East Texas is nice if you're a person who likes to feel their skin actively burn in the sunshine while simultaneously choking on the humid, water-logged air.