How bad is the cockroach population in (Austin/Houston/Dallas) Texas?

[loulou1973]

Currently live in Chicago. Need to move away from expensive living and freezing winters. After doing tons of research on warm SW states, I decided on Texas (sounded great!). However I was just recently informed that Texas has HUGE cockroaches. This could be a serious issue for me because roaches are the only creatures that I absolutely can not tolerate. So what I would like to know is how often do you see these huge things in and outside of your home? When I'm sitting on my patio in the evening, am I going to have these monsters crawling on me? Is there a particular city in TX that doesn't have as many as other cities? Am I better off living in downtown areas with less trees? Please help!