Big thing is the culture you want to live around. Dallas has turned very liberal, congested and a lot like LA. Fort Worth has kept its charm. Houston isn’t a good fit for me saying it politely. Austin is like a mini Seattle.
South of Dallas in Ellis county is quite nice and hasn’t boomed price wise like the north side. If you have some coin to spend the Allen and Prosper areas are fantastic.
If you’re on a budget you can get something very nice in FTW for 400-500k. If you have children Southlake is where it’s at.