Alternatives to having credit score when renting an apartment

My partner and I are moving to Houston from another country. We’re thinking of renting an apartment rather than living with our family. But main issue we see at the moment is that we don’t have a credit score yet (given that we haven’t lived there before).

Questions:

1. Is having a credit score in the US really necessary to rent an apartment (in Houston)?

2. Is there an alternative to this requirement? I’m thinking about asking our family to be guarantors but that’s if we really don’t have any other choices. I prefer if we could avoid burdening them, so I just want to know if y’all know of alternative routes.

3. We see some non-credit check rentals online but we’re a bit cautious about high crime rate. Since we’re not yet very familiar with different areas in Houston, do you have recommendations where it’s safe, and there might be available that doesn’t require credit check?

Thanks in advance!