Have no idea about architecture dept., but have you toured both campuses and neighborhoods? If I were you I’d way rather live near Arlington than that part of Houston.
I don’t know how UH is in terms of education, but I have a friend at UH who I visited a few weeks ago on campus and she is honestly scared to death of living on campus (which she does live on campus). I saw it myself… it’s pretty ghetto and frightening and definitely not as nice, as say Texas A&M.