Need help with making a decision whether to move to Dallas or Houston - Please Help! (Richardson: affordable apartments)

[hizgirl]

I am planning to move to Texas in the next couple of months, possibly Dallas or Houston. I would be moving from Penn State and am looking with the following criteria in mind:

Hospitable people
Fairly new and affordable apartments to rent, in areas that are diverse, Low crime rate
Not isolated (accessible)
No toll roads (possibly - or offers alternatives)
Lots of culture like: theater, festivals, concerts, etc
Suggestion for churches, if you know of any
Please be so kind as to recommend specific areas if possible (if Richardson or Katy, what part of Richardson or Katy exactly are you recommending; and possibly apartment complexes if you know or zip codes might be very helpful in apartment hunts)
Please no dark wooded areas (hate creepy-crawlies)

I thought if I had my criteria listed, it might help. Please, be positive because I trust that mature individuals will respond to this constructively. So I thank you kindly for any counsel you can offer.

Happy New Year!

[TurtleCreek80]

Need your rent budget.

[loves2read]

if you are tying to avoid toll roads then you should not go to either location--
Houston has them and so does Dallas--and because of the state's decision to turn over to toll road authorities much of the construction/maintenance of major roads--toll roads are going to become more numerous

Dallas probably has fewer of the "creep crawlies" just because it is on the plains area vs the coastal region but there are areas with trees in both locations--

Dallas has decent mass transit but Houston has many suburbs that don't have any
both have well-rounded entertainment/arts program but Houston probably has the edge simply because of its size and the fact that it has larger area/pool of supporters

how good is your chance to get work in either location