Our son is soon facing a fork in the road: Army/no Army. The no-Army decision tree has Austin near the top of the list. We have family in Austin and have been there many times. There is a lot to like, but housing is very expensive.
The last two decades of my career were spent in Scottsdale where our son was raised. For his skillset, AZ is not on the list, but Scottsdale has a lot to offer and AZ housing in general is more affordable than most places. Gotta love the desert, though.