Thank you very much everyone for all of your help. I never realized how many different breeds and varieties of chickens are out there until I started looking into getting some. I'm hoping for some good layers, but I really would like to have chickens that are reasonably friendly as well...
Thanks Judy for the link to the hot weather coops. That's been a concern of mine, to design a coop that has good ventilation, especially with our summer heat and humidity.
I'll look into Australorps and Barred Rock. I've heard good things about Barred Rock, but wasn't sure how they would...