I cant help but notice in the OP visualization, the houston area is cheap - a year of work, and reputed to have little regulation - like zoning regs for flood watersheds, or regulatory oversight over chemicals stored in warehouses...
Cockroaches are rampant in larger apartment complexes. If you go to poorer or less well maintained places and restaurants, the things are literally crawling over everything - it's hard to believe it's America. Mosquito breeding areas in all the ubiquitous slow winding bayous and creeks. The one month or so of winter cold enough to freeze results in sleet not snow most of the time due to prevailing atmospheric conditions. The rest of the year feel the need to take a shower after spending 15 minutes outside due to humidity.
That's fair - just pointing out if one hasn't lived there there are some signficant downsides not included in the housing comparison. Grew up there and worked and lived there a few decades later.
