Can't speak about Dallas, but Houston is LA with less masks, more cowboy hats, and real Tex-Mex food. The traffic is a mess most of the time and even just in Greater Houston the distances are long and slow most of the day. Not worth the drive.
There really isn't anything I'd travel to Houston again to see except maybe the USS Texas at San Jacinto and a bunch of friends at the bar. As several of them have said, the only increased police presence seems to be in the Traffic division to try to balance the budget.