I've lived in Texas almost all my life. Houston and the border are the two places you couldn't drag me to here. Houston is run by a Democrat machine. I will say, try Corpus if you must live on the ocean...Austin's nice, a beautiful town packed with liberals. It's also the most expensive place to live in Texas right now. (what do you expect with liberals?) Traffic is horrendous because the town has just about quadrupled in size in just over a decade. I prefer West Texas, myself. Much cooler temps. Less people, cheaper land. If you insist on having something to look at, San Angelo's nice.
What are your priorities? City, or small town...do you insist on being near an ocean, or is just water enough? How many liberals can you stand?
Land outside a City of decent size. Lakes or nice Rivers would be good enough, I can fly to the ocean I guess. Trees, at least some, any kind!