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Sorry for the wall of text, but I've done a lot of research, and I can find lots of " I love this town!" and "I hate this town!" but I'd like answers to some more specific types of questions.
I have come home to Colorado - I've lived here my whole life except for a 5-year absence for work - and find it unfavorably (for me) changed. I have decided on moving to a small city in Texas: one of Amarillo, Lubbock, or Abilene. I am accustomed to crazy, high desert, wait-5-minutes-it-will-change weather, so that's all fine with me. I no longer need to be near a city for work, and I enjoy a -very- quiet, predominantly solitary lifestyle. I want to be close to things like grocery, hospital, and veterinarian (corgis! ), but require little else.
I have riffled the internet trying to decide between Amarillo, Lubbock, and Abilene, and I always seem to wind up back at this forum. You folks seem friendly and informative, so I thought I might ask a few questions about the couple of things I am concerned about with regard to this move; any input you can provide will be welcome and greatly appreciated, so thanks in advance!
1. How far away are the "good" parts of these towns from the "bad" parts? For example, in the Denver metro area, we're all pretty far apart, so if you live in a "good" part, you don't have to drive through a "bad" part to get to something you want. When I was in Seattle, however, it seemed like every couple of blocks was a different "part" of town.
2. I am Jewish. I'm not noisy about it, but I'm guessing any kind of "not Christian" is going to stick out a bit in Texas. I know that the de facto response is going to be, "you'll be invited to church, but not pressured." That's fine. What I actually want to know, from other non-Christians in the area if at all possible, is how big a deal is it when you live there? We're notoriously indifferent to religious affiliation in most of Colorado, so this is one of the larger concerns I have about moving to rural(ish) Texas.
3. If you've moved from somewhere else to one of these towns, what was something you wish you'd been told before you came? A "game changer" type thing is going to be different for everyone, but I'm more interested in the anecdotal one-offs. For example, when I went to Seattle, everyone said it rains all the time (it doesn't, it's just gray), but no one mentioned to me that Seattleites give directions in "turn left, turn right" not "go east, go west." So, when you moved to north-ish, west-ish Texas, everyone told you about the wind, but no one told you about...?
It's hard for me to imagine that Grand Junction, CO has changed in any essential way all that much from the early 1980s when I lived there. Would that not be an alternative to moving to the Texas Panhandle or South Plains?
Of the three Texas cities you mention, Lubbock certainly has the most to offer.
I haven't lived or even been to Lubbock in decades, but I can tell you that traditionally what might be called the "bad" parts of town (which sounds rather racist code to me frankly), are East Lubbock, which is well separated from the rest of the city, and what was a less dodgy area a little north of Texas Tech, but rather invisible from University Ave, which bounds it to the east, north of 4th Street. Given the potential value of the land and its proximity to Tech, it's quite possible that's been cleared out and "renewed" by now. There are smaller lower middle and working class neighborhoods that distance-wise aren't very far from affluent areas, but they aren't "bad".
All of the cities you cite are significantly bigger than Grand Junction, which truly is a small city. If you want something in West Texas that is truly a small city, I would think San Angelo would be more suitable, or even Alpine down in the Trans-Pecos Davis Mountains. Warning: with the exception of beautifully situated Alpine, all the other cities are geographically uninteresting and arguably quite ugly overall (which isn't to say they don't have some attractive bits, but they aren't naturally very pretty places).
The Jewish community in Lubbock is quite well integrated socially and entirely accepted, as far as my experience of things there and of my Jewish high school friends in Lubbock.
Last edited by doctorjef; 06-02-2014 at 06:43 AM..
Lubbock has the big state university which provides a lot of your traditional college town things. The dust is awful IMO but Lubbock is cotton country and dust is just part of the deal.
Abilene is interesting because it has three pretty good sized well established Christian Colleges so it has a college town vibe to some degree as well. There are some mesa's around the area so it has what some might call scenery around. It is also the smallest of the three.
Amarillo once was the big daddy of the three economically and still probably has the most impressive skyline of the three. It has a small state university WTAMU in it's metro and while flat as a pancake it has the wonderful Palo Duro canyon in the area as well as canyon country and Lake Meridith to the north.
Another thing to consider is that it isn't that far to the mountains from Lubbock or Amarillo. (Southern NM for Lubbock has Ruidoso while Amarillo isn't far from Albuquerque/Santa Fe/Angel Fire/Red River).
Meanwhile, Abilene isn't terribly far from DFW or Austin.
All three are windy, hot and dry in the summer and can get some winter (esp. Amarillo) and are very cow boyish in terms of the dominant culture. EXTREMELY conservative politically.
The flip side is that the people are extremely friendly and accommodating and they are tough folks who came from tough stock.
Another thing to consider is that it isn't that far to the mountains from Lubbock or Amarillo. (Southern NM for Lubbock has Ruidoso while Amarillo isn't far from Albuquerque/Santa Fe/Angel Fire/Red River).
I wasn't going to comment since this is a Texas forum, but the quoted comment has opened the door for me. So I am curious as to why the OP overlooks New Mexico as a possible relocation option?
Las Cruces is a far more desirable small city, IMO, than the three being considered in Texas. Ruidoso, already mentioned, has good veterinarians, hospital, existing Jewish community, and best climate in the southwest, and a large population of retirees.
I'm going to suggest that Abilene is the most self-consciously conservative Christian of the three, so that's something to consider if you don't fit into that demographic. Further, I must dispute that it is very close to Austin at all -- four and a half or five hours, while Lubbock is more like a six to seven hour drive. Both cities are far enough from DFW, and of course Amarillo is really far.
I am not sure if the OP wants to remain relatively close to Colorado. If not, there are a number of other small cities and towns in Texas that might fit with what they are looking for, including Kerrville in the Central Texas Hill Country, or Alpine in the Trans-Pecos. I think there may be a definitional problem here with what constitutes a small city. I'd define Lubbock as medium sized, and again I'd contrast it to Grand Junction, CO which really is a small city, and entirely out of the whole scene of the Front Range -- it's 40 miles from the Utah state line.
A note regarding weather: Amarillo is about 120 miles north of Lubbock and has significantly more snow and more severe winter. And hasn't West Texas State University in Canyon changed its name? In any case, Canyon may be within the "metro area" of Amarillo, but it is a totally separate town south of Amarillo.
As usual, the most informative thing to do would be to take a road trip, driving down from Amarillo, to Lubbock, to Abilene, and spending a couple of days in each.
My own view is that there are better places in West Texas, NM, and CO to live if you are really looking for a small city or nice size town with necessities (both Alpine and San Angelo have universities, and San Angelo - like Abilene - has an Air Force base).
I guess I probably should have mentioned that I'm not an outdoorsy type. This might sound a little odd coming from a Colorado native, but I honestly don't care a fig for natural scenery with one exception: there darn well better be a great big giant sky. The sky figures prominently out here in Denver, obviously; it does not in Seattle, and that made me feel constricted.
My parents are seriously considering Grand Junction for retirement, but I'm afraid I'm not. While I agree that it's beautiful country, my patience with the rising taxes in Colorado (among other things) is quickly running out. Washington state has no state income tax, you see (they get their revenue from sales, property, and vehicles licensing tax), and coming home to find that my sales tax, property tax, and vehicle licensing tax have all increased PLUS I still have the 4.3% CO income tax has, frankly, angered me now that I know I don't have to have that issue if I leave CO. So, a quick look around told me that there are 7 states without state income tax. Of those, the only two I would consider living in are Texas and Nevada. Having spent quite a bit of time in both (in the large cities, not in the small), Texas is the very big winner for me. I know that Texas has relatively higher property taxes to make up the difference, but as that's based on my house (I'm looking in the $100-150k range ONLY), not my income, that's going to wash out as a significantly lower tax burden for me.
So, I guess in short, this is about my own money, regional fiscal politics (I am otherwise completely disinterested in politics), a dry, flat landscape, easy access to the few conveniences that are important to me, and a whole LOT of quiet.
As far as a road trip, I'm planning to do one better if I can. Namely, I'd like to get an apartment for a month in each town and actually live there for a while before making a final decision. It is my intention that this will be my last move, so I have to do this right. The thing is, though, a different place every month for 3 months would be hard on the dogs (the corgis, not my feet), so if I could eliminate even one of these locations before doing that, it would be a big help.
Quiet living, I'm very quiet living. I get up around 500a to tend to the dogs, have a nice coffee, and start working. Quietly. I like to be in bed by around 900p. I don't leave the house often since I started working remotely, and I don't miss going out at all. I don't like to hear children playing outside as I consider that to be "noise." I don't like to hear traffic, airplanes, loud car stereos, or the doorbell ringing so the 87th solicitor of the day can ignore my "no soliciting" sign. Inexplicably, I don't seem to mind train noises...because I'm an eensy bit bananas, I guess?
That's another big reason I'm looking at west Texas: it's big country, so I might even go so far as to pick up a very small parcel of land on the skirts of one of these places. As a noise buffer. Dogs would like it, I'm sure, and it might be the best way to get the kind of very quiet-type quiet I'm seeking.
I'm going to suggest that Abilene is the most self-consciously conservative Christian of the three, so that's something to consider if you don't fit into that demographic. Further, I must dispute that it is very close to Austin at all -- four and a half or five hours, while Lubbock is more like a six to seven hour drive. Both cities are far enough from DFW, and of course Amarillo is really far.
I am not sure if the OP wants to remain relatively close to Colorado. If not, there are a number of other small cities and towns in Texas that might fit with what they are looking for, including Kerrville in the Central Texas Hill Country, or Alpine in the Trans-Pecos. I think there may be a definitional problem here with what constitutes a small city. I'd define Lubbock as medium sized, and again I'd contrast it to Grand Junction, CO which really is a small city, and entirely out of the whole scene of the Front Range -- it's 40 miles from the Utah state line.
A note regarding weather: Amarillo is about 120 miles north of Lubbock and has significantly more snow and more severe winter. And hasn't West Texas State University in Canyon changed its name? In any case, Canyon may be within the "metro area" of Amarillo, but it is a totally separate town south of Amarillo.
As usual, the most informative thing to do would be to take a road trip, driving down from Amarillo, to Lubbock, to Abilene, and spending a couple of days in each.
My own view is that there are better places in West Texas, NM, and CO to live if you are really looking for a small city or nice size town with necessities (both Alpine and San Angelo have universities, and San Angelo - like Abilene - has an Air Force base).
I can get from Abilene to Austin in 3 and a half hours if I hustle. (220 miles).
You are right that Amarillo has worse winter weather.
Canyon, Tx is about 20 minutes south of downtown Amarillo and I think might be the best fit for the OP. Great little town! Quiet, although it is almost to connect to south Amarillo anymore.
West Texas state is now West Texas A&M (WTAMU). Nice little school with a pretty campus.
Last edited by eddie gein; 06-02-2014 at 10:55 AM..
Oh, gosh! And one other important thing I forgot: basements. Houses in these areas have basements, right? I've never even heard of a house in the Denver metro that doesn't have one, but I know other places sometimes don't have them as standard course. I'm alright with tornadoes so long as I have a basement.
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), but require little else.
This might sound a little odd coming from a Colorado native, but I honestly don't care a fig for natural scenery with one exception: there darn well better be a great big giant sky. The sky figures prominently out here in Denver, obviously; it does not in Seattle, and that made me feel constricted.
I like to be in bed by around 900p. I don't leave the house often since I started working remotely, and I don't miss going out at all. I don't like to hear children playing outside as I consider that to be "noise." I don't like to hear traffic, airplanes, loud car stereos, or the doorbell ringing so the 87th solicitor of the day can ignore my "no soliciting" sign. Inexplicably, I don't seem to mind train noises...because I'm an eensy bit bananas, I guess?
