Amarillo - Is it safe? How's the climate? (Dallas, Dalhart: place to live, friendly)

[kerrymac]

Can i get peoples thoughts on Amarillo.

I mean do they like it..is it safe...climate..just general thoughts.

Thanks

[cobolt]

I lived in Amarillo for 13 years and regret the day I moved away. PM me if you have specific questions.

[nmnita]

Interesting cobolt,

we have never lived there but often spend the night there when going from here to the west or when we used to drive from Albuquerque to Dallas and we always thought it looked like a really neat little town or really not that little.

To the OP, I am sure there are some very nice areas, but I do know the weather isn't always the best, lots of wind from what we have seen and been told, plus really cold, snowy winters. Well snowy and cold would depend on where you are coming from.

Nita

[stillkit]

Amarillo is as safe as any other town of similar size. It's got it's problem areas, just like any place else.

As for the weather? LOL Hot and dusty in the summertime, prone to violent thunderstorms year 'round and, in the winter, there isn't a thing between you and North Pole except a barbed wire fence....and it blew down. I personally think the Panhandle of Texas has the most disagreeable weather in the country.

Plus, there's this: The monotony of the terrain, and endless bad weather, give Amarillo an unusually high suicide rate. That's also true of the Oklahoma Panhandle, southwest Kansas and southeast Colorado. In short, the old Dust Bowl area. There's just something about the bleakness of it all which drives people over the edge.

[cobolt]

Bleakness? High suicide rate? Please. I moved from Amarillo to just south of Seattle. Talk about bleak. Yes, pretty green trees everywhere and it's cloudy and/or rainy about 3/4 of the year. I'd take Amarillo ANY day.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by cobolt

Bleakness? High suicide rate? Please. I moved from Amarillo to just south of Seattle. Talk about bleak. Yes, pretty green trees everywhere and it's cloudy and/or rainy about 3/4 of the year. I'd take Amarillo ANY day.

I agree, I don't know about the suicide rate, but at one time, Seattle was about the highest. When we moved from Dallas to ABQ and passed through Amarillo for the first time, we were kinda sorry we hadn't looked into liveing there.

I think you would agree, the weather isn't the greatest and yes, the topography can be a little boring, but it still seems like a great place to live.

Hope someday you get to return.

Nita

[Westerner92]

High suicide rate? I actually laughed when I read that. I guess if you think sunny days are depressing, then you would be suicidal. As far as the bleak landscape goes, it is pretty flat, but the mountains are just a few hours away, and some of the largest canyons in the nation are just a few minutes away. It's pretty windy, but you get used to it. The winters are cold and snowy compared to the rest of Texas, but rather mild compared to most of the nation.

[cobolt]

I'll tell you what. Amarillo and the High Plains may not be green, it may be flat, but the people are the BEST hands down. ANd if I had my choice between a pretty part of the country with absolutely insular, anti-social, and rainy type people (to go along with the weather) and a flat, windy place with the absoulute best people, well....it's a no brainer. Gosh, get me back to Texas already!!

[kerrymac]

Well thank you all for the info..very much appreciated

[backintx]

Drive 10 miles north of town along Tascosa Rd/385 towards Dalhart. If you think the terrain is exclusively flat around Amarillo, that drive will change your mind in a hurry.

Yes, the wind is a pain in the neck at times. And, when it blows from the southwest, it flat-out stinks (the notorious "smell of other peoples' money").

I used to live in a city where the people were incredibly unpleasant and the congestion horrible. The weather where I was was arguably terrific in all but the dead of summer.

But, I'll take a stiff breeze, chilly winters, and the occasional smell of cow dung over where I used to be any day. Because, the Texas Panhandle has the most consistently down-to-earth, friendly people I've ever encountered.

And, believe me, that more than makes up for the lack of trees and toasty-warm winter days.