Amarillo or Ft. Worth? Which one would be better? (Dallas: home, employment)

[TedH71]

Am considering moving thereabouts for a job in a major company. I grew up in the DFW so am familiar with it but never been to Amarillo so any suggestions or ideas? Am married with two young children. Have dogs.

[joejitsu]

I don't know about Amarrillo, but its very country. You are out in the Northern Panhandle its a unique place. Very conservative, religious, and kinda roughneck, but I hear very friendly people.

[catman]

It all depends on what you are looking for. Which one is "better" is impossible to answer with nothing more to go on.

[ChristieP]

Amarillo gets REALLY COLD and snows a lot in the winter. It is also very flat, and isolated. There is not much shopping or things to do, especially for children.

Personally, I'd pick Fort Worth.

[Canine*Castle]

I'd go for the DFW area (specifically Ft. Worth over Dallas) just because it's prettier. I do not like the terrain at all around Amarillo.

[texastim]

I would say Fort Worth. There are many more amenities and employment opportunities in Fort Worth and environs. The area is more diverse in multiple ways, and has a much more genteel climate. Amarillo is just kind of "out there." Halfway between Oklahoma City and Albuquerque.

[cobolt]

I think Amarillo is a great place to raise kids and I loved living there. It doesn't have all the big city headaches but you have everything you really need there. In fact, I'm in Seattle right now trying to get back to Texas, and although I know I could land a job in Ft Worth fairly easily, I'm looking at Amarillo and Lubbock. The problem with the Panhandle though is outside of medical, the pay really isn't there for the jobs. I would settle for Ft Worth----it's a great town, but I really love Panhandle people.

[TT Dave]

Like somone said above, it would be helpful to know what you are looking for so we could possibly offer more feedback. In general, I would say that if you want to live in a city that has fewer of the hassles of a large city, but still have some of the amenities larger cities have you might consider Amarillo. Just bear in mind that it will be colder there in the winter than Fort Worth. You said you grew up in the DFW area, so if you don't mind living in a large metro again, Fort Worth would be hard to beat. If I had to choose, I would choose Fort Worth.

[TedH71]

Sorry...been busy here dealing with school and kids plus had a litter of coonhound pups dropped off at my place and now I'm trying to place 'em! Anyway, I am into hog hunting with dogs but had to cut back when I moved to KS due to their different hunting regulations. I like the cold weather and discovered that when I moved to KS because it's a nice change from the hot and hotter Texas weather! I want my kids to be able to run loose (with supervision, of course). I know there are more activities for them to do in Ft. Worth but something nags me about Amarillo since I've not been there. I will be making good money in either town doing machining work so...more feedback would be nice. Wife is still unsure about Amarillo or Ft. Worth since she hates traffic and all she sees when she goes thru Ft. Worth is the traffic. Wichita is a town of nearly 400k people and she's used to that plus the bad traffic takes only 15 mins tops unless there is a major accident. That's a nice thing to have.....

[cobolt]

Well, Amarillo hasn't yet reached 200k in population. The west side is building up with new housing, shopping etc to accomodate the medical center, but it is nothing like Ft Worth. Amarillo gets 4 seasons. I was back visiting Amarillo in December and it was cold and it snowed---two days later it was 60 degrees. It's just like that. It's flat with wide open spaces and the trees aren't as big as you'll find....say where I grew up in the midwest, but the sunsets are glorious, I love wide open spaces, and you won't find nicer people. Last time I was home I was driving down the street and a car was stalled ahead of me. I'm telling you, four cars pulled over to help this person in his stalled car push it to the nearest gas station. You just don't get that kind of courtesy everywhere, and less so in the bigger metros. I'm not saying that you won't find great people in Ft WOrth because you will. Some of my best friends live there and I love visiting, but it really depends on your priorities. They are completely different tastes of Texas and I would advise you to visit each if you can before you make your decision.