I find that Seattle has most of those benefits (no income tax, better regulation, state and city with balanced budgets, lower cost of living) but also the benefits of living in a socially liberal state (gay marriage, access to family planning, sane regulation of pot).
Austin however wins on weather, unless you like to stay buried in your cave programming, like me. ;)
in 2011 it broke 100f 30 days in a row in Austin. 2012 was a bit of a ball buster too, this year is predicted to break records (though it hasn't been too bad so far).
I think this is highly dependent on the individual. I despise the heat, and definitely prefer Seattle's weather to Austin's. But I know plenty of people who are the opposite.
It doesn't get anywhere close to 100f in Seattle but you'll still some solid stretches 85+F which, while absolutely peanuts in most places, is pretty brutal for someone used to AC. It is one thing to be brutally hot during the day when you are outside, and an entirely different thing to be rather hot at 3am when you are trying to sleep.
I moved from the Dallas area to the Seattle area and I've had AC everywhere I've lived (except the first place). Sure I've had to install it in one case, but it's not that expensive compared to the benefit if you're used to AC.
Also, I think Seattle wins on weather too, but I lived in the southern heat for a very long time so maybe my perspective is warped.
At least you'd have some pleasant contrast. Walking into your apartment in the summer to be met with air at least as warm as outside is not very cool.
Temperature contrast is vastly underrated, and almost impossible to get in Seattle either way (never gets cold enough in the winter to be that different than a comfortable indoors temperature either).
2011 was just a really bad year, a record 90 days over 100 (previous record was 67). But the heat's not the only thing to consider. Austin averages 300 days of sunshine each year, while Seattle has only 58.
Yeah but 242 of those days are too hot to do anything. So it's kind of a wash you know?
EDIT TO ADD:
Look I'm not saying that Seattle's weather is perfect, nor that there is a perfect location, but whatever Austin is doing with its weather, it sure as hell aint winning.
That's not true. I love the warm weather - and absolutely dread overcast/rainy. I don't have Seasonal Affective Disorder, but to say that the sun doesn't brighten my day would be wrong.
Seattle is closer to Hawaii. I've found Seattle to have acceptable sun by spending a few weeks out of the year vacationing to Hawaii or California. Summer in Seattle is so much better than Summer in Texas; it's the rainy winter that you have to break up.
I lived in the Seattle area for many many years, and it got plenty of sun, summer and winter, and most of the non-sunny weather was best described as "mild." Moreover, on sunny days, it's not oppressively hot most of the time. The area's rep for bad weather is pretty undeserved (yeah I know the joke "shhh, don't tell, some Californians might hear!").
I don't like Seattle for cultural reasons, but the climate is very nice.
Austin however wins on weather, unless you like to stay buried in your cave programming, like me. ;)