First, Dallas does not have scorpions or rattlesnakes. Those are in other parts of the state. Fire ants are not as big of a problem as they used to be, and they are very easy to get rid of very quickly with a pet safe product that wipes out the whole mound and kills the queen in a day or two.
We do have tarantulas that come out for a few weeks right about now to mate. That freaks some people out, but they are NOT venomous, not aggressive to people or pets, and the males are actually beautiful animals to look at.
Yeah, Texas politics are very different from PNW politics, but in the big cites and suburbs, people are pretty accommodating of people who have different opinions. My neighborhood is very multicultural. There are fourteen houses on my street. Four are black households, three are asian households, and two gay men own a home across the street (they have a key to my house in case something happens while I'm out of town). We all get along great.
Austin, Texas is more like the PNW, but a huge influx of Tech companies from Cali are making real estate pretty pricey. Austin's motto is "Keep Austin Weird."
CD