I need your help Texans~~~(amarillo area) (Canyon, West: real estate, apartment)

[emajns]

HI Texans,

My husband, 15 year old, 1 year old and I will be moving to Texas in the next year. His job will be based in Amarillo and we are looking for the perfect area in which to live. I have been reading columns, real estate websites, etc... and have gathered a lot of advice. However, I really need your help in order to really get a good understanding of the best location to live.

It seems to me that you can get a lot of home for your money there. That is awesome!

I have heard the South West side of Amarillo is the best, but it looks like typical suburbia to me. I am currently researching Canyon. But I am planning to check out all of the little outskirt towns.

My husband wants to live in the country.

Here are my specs on ideal Texan living:

House within 150-200K range.
Beautiful scenery...ideally some sort of water
good schools
Safe area
not too far from shopping, eating and meeting new people

I dont think commute will be an issue because my husbands job is 90% travel anyway, not an "office" job. Headqaurters are in Amarillo.

I know it will be a culture shock for me, as I am a Floridian Beach Bum and have never lived anywere else!

But I have ALWAYS heard that the best part of Texas is the people, "They bleed red, white and blue!"

Thanks so much for your help!

Em

[JamesAbilene]

I haven't lived in the Amarillo area for a long time, but here are some ideas:

The Southwest side of town is the newest and "growingest" section. I recently sold my mother-in-law's home in that area. She had three bedrooms, a sun room, double garage, and a pretty large space that went for 170,000. You are right in your estimate that it is a suburban looking area.

The land between Amarillo and Canyon is more "country," and you can probably find the kind of land your husband wants in that area. However, both Amarillo and Canyon are going to meet there some day.

West of Amarillo, toward the helium plant, there are some new and newer homes with large acreages off of Interstate 40.

Scenery and water? You might look around Lake Tanglewood, south of town, or north toward boys' ranch, but scenery and water are scarce commodities in the Panhandle.

My wife's grandmother lived in West Hills near the Amarillo Country Club. That used to be a nice area--it may still be, but I haven't been there in awhile. Older, larger homes, and some scenery and rolling land--a little different from the flat plains in most of the area.

Also, just north of Canyon, are some attractive, scenic subdivisions.

The far Southwest side of Amarillo is in the Canyon School Ditrict.

[emajns]

Thanks so much for the help. Your reply gave me a lot to work with. I was looking at Tanglewood, but highly doubt husband will go for the closed in type community. I am interested in the West Hills area. The "rolling land" sounds up my alley.


Thanks again,

Em

[NOTAM]

well you need to also tell us how "country" you are willing to go. i remember researching when i was considering a job over there, and i wanted to live very "country" and i was leaning towards Claude, Panhandle, White Deer....
but that's cuz i dont like living in suburbia with cookie cutter homes-i like small country towns with a sense of community

[emajns]

Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas

well you need to also tell us how "country" you are willing to go. i remember researching when i was considering a job over there, and i wanted to live very "country" and i was leaning towards Claude, Panhandle, White Deer....
but that's cuz i dont like living in suburbia with cookie cutter homes-i like small country towns with a sense of community

Good point! LOL

I have never lived country so, that needs some thought. Wanting to avoid suburbia, I would like to live in a place that you can get a little more land with your house, but be close enough to a quaint little town that you dont feel destitude. I dont want to end up anywhere that is rundown. Having neighbors that up keep there property and home is important. Good schools are important. Husband inerjects that a good grocery store and Home Depot or essential

Is it impossible to live close enough to the canyon that you have canyon views? I dont want to spend more than 200k.

Thanks for your help!

Em

[GayleTX]

Em.....it would be difficult to find a place on Palo Duro.....that is ranch land and privately owned so very few homes there. Seems like there was a developer 3-4 yrs ago going to put some homes out on one end of it, though.....you might google the map for Currie Drive, Canyon, TX, and see if he ever got it going.....or ask a Canyon realtor. Dr. Currie was building it and I remember one street had his name on it. They had the streets laid out and named the last time I saw it but that was a few years ago.


As for Western Hills....it is a nice neighborhood but the water situation is difficult there, ....they squabble with the city a good bit about their water supply.....the water table dropped during the last earthquake and the water supply wells had to be drilled deeper (some of the people have their own private water wells and it was a big expense for them). Many felt that the value of their property also dropped because of the possibility of limited water in their neighborhood.

We have a friend who built a very expensive new home in a development on the hills NW of town (near the land fill...can't think of the name of the development or the street)--- beautiful view of the city........but they had to drill 3 deep wells to get enough water and then they had to put up a storage tank so they could store water and have enough pressure to operate the house at all times.

[desert sun]

I would try Canyon,It is a small town with nice houses and I love the feel of the town.

[jellybelly66]

If You can sleep at night with the Pantex Nucleur Facility near Amarillo,with its hundreds of Nucleur Warheads. One Accident and all of Amarillo ,and nearby towns are gone. Nice people live here,but Amarillo is Apartment capital of the USA with 48% of the population living in Apts....The big reason for this,is that we have one of the highest property taxes in the nation,making it a big reason why people live in Apts

[Eastender67]

If You can sleep at night with the Pantex Nucleur Facility near Amarillo,with its hundreds of Nucleur Warheads. One Accident and all of Amarillo ,and nearby towns are gone. Nice people live here,but Amarillo is Apartment capital of the USA with 48% of the population living in Apts....The big reason for this,is that we have one of the highest property taxes in the nation,making it a big reason why people live in Apts

. . and watch out for tsunamis and avalanches because the likelihood of one of those in that area is about the same as a "nucleur" (sic) accident.

[todaro3577]

hello, you (jellybelly) got me curious about this nuclear power plant, i to am interested in relocating possibly to the canyon area from NJ, the power plant is 47miles away. i'm sure it is not a concern.
canyon seems to be a beautiful area. homes are reasonable and it seems that you get more land for your money. I'm just wondering what is the quality of these new construction homes in canyon. were they built by the same builders?