Here's my honest, non-sarcastic take:
I am familiar with Lubbock and Orange. The closest thing to a historic district like those, BY FAR is north Temple.
I am very familiar with Belton's historic district, and frankly, I just don't think there's much to it. I'm referring to the area between 6th and 13th, and along main, wall, penelope, and beal.
It's small, there's not much in there, and its full of apartments, old duplexes, and dilapidated properties. There are certainly a few nice older homes with some personality, but not a lot of them. I just don't care for it. That's not to say belton is bad - there are many nice neighborhoods (off loop 121, off Ave. D, turtle creek area, belton high school, and some VERY nice areas headed out toward the dam, off 439, and others).
But those aren't what you like.
North Temple's historic district is a little smaller than lubbock's and a little larger than orange's. keep in mind that while Orange and belton are the same size now, that hasn't ways been the case. Orange was once much larger town than belton, and certainly was when their respective early/mid 20th century historic districts went up.
It all comes down to personal preference. With regard to local historic districts, I don't care for belton's. There's a lot to like in belton, but for me, old town living isn't one of them.
[This message has been edited by Captain Pablo (edited 3/20/2013 3:04p).]