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Veteran
Posts: 101
| What's everyone's thoughts on living around the Amarillo area?? Weather, barrel races, buying a 30-40acre ranch, schools, jobs, etc. |
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Pick Me Pick Me
Posts: 2052
 
Location: Somewhere between the badlands and worselands |   
I spent 8 years trying to get out of the Texas panhandle. I'm finally happily settled in Oklahoma and you couldn't pay me to move back. Jmho |
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 Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
 
Location: That part of Texas | Jobs, schools, property and the like are probably going to be dependent on where exactly you are looking to live. Different areas outside of Amarillo are going to give you different answers on those issues and yes, it can vary greatly depending on the location (even just being 10-30 miles away from Amarillo).
As for the weather, how do you feel about wind, dirt and temperatures that can vary between 30 and 90 degrees (all in the same day)?
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 Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | Since you are getting all the negatives (and yes they are right to a great extent), I'll give you some positives. I'm from the area and grew high school rodeoing around there. There are a decent number of barrel races and if you live close to the city I believe they have a jackpot and barrel race every week on Thursdays at the National Center (or the arena just next to it whose name I can't recall right now). There is also an active cowboy church with active barrel races.
Land tends to be quite affordable in the area unless you want to live in one of the upscale neighborhoods around Palo Duro Canyon. Then you will be paying more. Cost of living is usually quite affordable. However land is often cheap because there is not a whole lot in the way of grazing. Bet on having to buy hay and if its drought conditions it don't come cheap. Palo Duro Canyon is a really neat place to visit and beautiful place to ride (yes, its open for trail rides). They also have a neat show called Texas on the weekends in the Summer that is great to attend.
The wind constantly blows there. Either grow your hair long enough to pull back tight and easy (no fly aways) or cut it short short. This is a side effect of grasslands with no trees to break the wind. The positive to this is the stars at night are magnificent and you can see a LONG way. Magnificent sunsets too. Buy clothing suitable for this too (no floaty skirts that will reveal your underwear wardrobe etc.)
Both Amarillo College and West Texas A&M university are great and very affordable.
Jobs are harder to come by in Amarillo because its not really all that large a city. They exist but you have to hunt and be patient. Sought after jobs for many horse people are at the AQHA association. These are especially hard to come by.
If you are conservative, this is your place to be. 98% Republican conservative voters. Lots of people in boots and cowboy hats.
ETA: they have real winter in Amarillo. Nothing like the Dakotas but expect a foot or more of snow once to twice a year. And temperatures do jump really extremely from day to evening. It is also very dry, very little rain. I loved this as I hate getting wet but you see the effects on your feed bill.
Edited by oija 2015-02-18 2:13 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 101
| Thank you for giving a detailed response!! Very helpful! We are looking to relocate and have heard amarillo isn't quiet so hot in the summer. However, having livestock and horses some pasture is important... Any better suggestions to look at other than Amarillo?? |
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Pick Me Pick Me
Posts: 2052
Location: Somewhere between the badlands and worselands | Frankie Luv - 2015-02-18 1:20 PM
Thank you for giving a detailed response!! Very helpful! We are looking to relocate and have heard amarillo isn't quiet so hot in the summer. However, having livestock and horses some pasture is important... Any better suggestions to look at other than Amarillo??
I live north of oklahoma city in stillwater. It's a great area. And the horse activity is extremely high.
And idk where you're comparing Amarillo summers to....but they are awful. Hot hot hot and dry and windy.
But i like it here where it's green and not too dry but not too humid |
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Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | Frankie Luv - 2015-02-18 2:20 PM
Thank you for giving a detailed response!! Very helpful! We are looking to relocate and have heard amarillo isn't quiet so hot in the summer. However, having livestock and horses some pasture is important... Any better suggestions to look at other than Amarillo??
Where do you live now? Amarillo can get up above 100 a decent number of days. Its dryer so you don't feel it quite as bad but it definitely can get hot. Not as bad as Arizona, parts of Nevada, or New Mexico though. |
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 A very grounded girl
Posts: 5052
Location: Moving soon..... | Personally I would not live there. Too many tornados. I lived in Brady for 5 years and there were no tornados where I lived, but the storms were terrible. Sorry, I'm a pansie (sp) when it comes to severe weather. Just don't like it. |
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Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | If you are wanting less hot in the summer, Kansas ain't too bad. Winters are more severe though. I think they still have plenty of wind and not a lot of rain too. Barrel races will be more spread out. They still have plenty of tornados but anywhere on the Great Plains is going to have this issue. Tornado Alley ends just before you get to Dallas/Fort Worth. |
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Veteran
Posts: 101
| Don't laugh... Moving from Minnesota :) I didn't realize tornados were a problem in that area, I know storms are a part of the south but thought tornado alley was farther north like Kansas and Oklahoma. |
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Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
Location: That part of Texas | Frankie Luv - 2015-02-18 2:38 PM Don't laugh... Moving from Minnesota :) I didn't realize tornados were a problem in that area, I know storms are a part of the south but thought tornado alley was farther north like Kansas and Oklahoma.
The tornadoes aren't actually too bad. You mainly have to worry about them April-June and most of them are not the big killer ones. Don't get me wrong -- we do have some pretty severe storms and have had massive tornadoes but it's not something I lose too much sleep over. Personally I'm more worried about grass fires and wild fires burning out of control than a tornado hitting my house. |
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 Ima Fickle Fan
Posts: 3547
Location: Texas | If you are used to mountains or lots of water, you're probably going to hate Amarillo. I lasted 9 months there. The weather is typically breezy, windy, and tornado. There was never a day without wind that I lived there. The winters can be brutal cold. The wind doesn't help Summers aren't too bad, but they are still hot.
I loved the people. I worked at AQHA and it was fun. But I grew up in Oregon, with mountains and water. I now live in Stephenville and love it here.
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Veteran
Posts: 101
| Thanks !! Tell me about stephenville, what makes you love it?? You have me curious ! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 696
Location: Sunny California | I HATED Amarillo! I lived about an hour north of there. Between the wind and dirt blowing every day which caused my allergies to flare up and cause constant sinus infections and the freezing ass cold winters I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Oh, and it can be 90 degrees one day and snow the next. I only lasted 18 months, which was 18 months too long. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2128
| I have only been to that area once, to attend the Spicer Gripp team roping. The weather was mild, a little windy, and there were these thorny little burrows all in the grass areas that pierced through the bottom of my sandles and flattened the tires on my friends baby stroller lol. I do remember driving through " Quanah, Texas: home of Kelly Kyle" |
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Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | I would also note that Amarillo and Lubbock have one of the most stable housing and land markets in the country. When everybody else is jumping around, there's experiences slow growth. I would think Minnesota would have some pretty nasty winters though so I wouldn't think Amarillo would be too much of a stretch from that.
I know aggiejudger will say some more about Stephenville but they have very hot summers and are much more humid than Amarillo. That being said the area is very very pretty with a tremendous horse culture. Clinton Anderson has his barn there and Weatherford which is just a bit north of there is cutting horse country deluxe.
You might honestly not mind the area I'm in now. Texoma (just south of the red river). We're close enough to DFW you can get your culture and entertainment in pretty easy. We get plenty of rain so grazing and hay isn't hard to come by. Lots of horse culture. We're still going to get warm but tend to hand out around the 90s in summer instead of getting over 100 a ton. We have reasonably temperate winters, not really much in the way of snow. |
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Ima Fickle Fan
Posts: 3547
Location: Texas | Stephenville is known as the Cowboy Capital of the World. We have more PRCA cowboys and NFR qualifiers than anywhere else. I am on a committee for a fashion show that we put on in conjunction with the Cowboy Capital PRCA Rodeo here in town. Last year was the first year and everywhere you looked there were people with LONG resumes of rodeo accomplishments. It was awesome and we hope our next one is better. Looking at what we had at our show as far as clothing, Stephenville is at the forefront of Western fashion. The things we had at "The Show" were also shown at the NFR's fashion show.
You can go to a jackpot, barrel race, team roping, etc. every night of the week and not have to travel more than an hour to get to it. Land is fairly reasonable. Fort Worth is an hour away. Depending on what you do for a living, jobs are not as hard to come by in the Dallas-Fort Worth areas as they would be in Amarillo. The land around here is MUCH better than the Panhandle. Depending on the year, we can get 2-4 cuttings of hay on our place. The winters aren't bad. The summers can get hot, but it's Texas. It's 3 months of hot and 9 months of great to decent weather. The people are really friendly and it is definitely a great area for horses. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 823
Location: East Texas | lol....MN to Amarillo. That will be a change, but any place is what you make it. I lived in the desert, high plains of the panhandle and NM for several years. I have since moved back to East Texas. I missed trees and water. No matter where you live there will be times where the weather is not good. The panhandle is very hot in the summer, and can be very cold in the winter. If I were looking for a place to keep a few horses or cattle, I would prob. chose another part of Texas. Either way, good luck on your new adventure.
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Location: naz, tx | I have mixed feelings about the area! It really does have it's good days and bad, just like anywhere! I have lived here almost seven years and most of them have been drought years. Last year we got right at average rainfall (around 20 inches) and it was amazing! We have ten acres, which is about half grass and half wheat. We were able to keep 2 horses on the grass and cut over 100 square bales off of it! So..... if it does actually rain, it's great! Our wheat this year has already grown enough to run a couple horses, with just a few snows and little rain.
The wind does blow here, but not all the time. Last summer was actually pretty nice I thought. There is at least one barrel race, if not more to go to every weekend within an hour of there. And they are usually good sized, close to or more than 100 entries.... There aren't many weeknight jackpots though, which is strange from where I have lived before. There are a lot of good vets up here too, which is pretty nice!
I can't give much advice on land or jobs... I live about an hour south of Amarillo and everything here is farmland. I do have a friend that sells real estate, and she just posted this listing last week that looked pretty neat! It was reduced to $695.... It doesn't have much land with it, but there may be some more around there. It's a really pretty area!
http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=1255067
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 Expert
Posts: 1432
Location: Never in one place long | You'd be close to Palo Duro Canyon!!! I LOVE riding there, it's absolutely beautiful! |
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Blessed 
Location: Here | These ladies have pretty accurately described the area. Hot is still hot and you add the wind it is nasty. You can have some pretty nice days. However google Amarillo dirt storms and it will give you idea of what happens when you don't get rain there which is a definite problem right now. They can have water restrictions as well. Spring can be nice but then again the wind. Cold in winter with some nasty blizzards because of WIND Notice the common world... WIND...
Great doctors and hospital system. If you are looking for a more temperate climate you might want to visit other places. People are great there barrel races are good not a lot of indoor pens though. |
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Veteran
Posts: 101
| Thank you all so much!!! I would definitely love to hear more reccamendations as to where ppl love living in Texas!! Again, thank you! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 585
Location: Texas | I live north of Amarillo. We usually get less than 5 or 6 inches of snow, maybe 3 times a winter and it is gone within a week or so. One thing that was not mentioned...when the sun goes down it cools off! Very pleasant summer evenings. Yes the wind blows but the people are great. The barrel racing community is friendly and welcoming.
ps Personally I haven't seen a tornado in 6 years. ;) |
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 Chicken Chick
Posts: 3562
Location: Texas | windy, hot, dry... lol. The plus side with the wind is that it usually dies down in the evening. We had horrible wind today but now there really isnt a breeze. A lot of the storms have a high chance of tornadoes, but it usually ends up being a small tornado that touches down in the middle of no where, if one touches down at all. North side of town has a lot of mesquite trees and yuccas. South side is more grassland... but considering we dont get much rain that doesnt help you much. You just dont have to cut down mesquite and killy yuccas every year.It does get HOT and stay hot. Last year was pretty mild but i believe the year before we had 50+ consecutive days that reached 100 degrees. And our new record high is 111. Add wind and dirt to that and it is miserable. Winters are mild as far as snow, and we will get about a foot maybe once a year.People are friendly. Not much to do after a while. Reasonable cost of living. Always some sort of horse event going on somewhere. |
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I am a Freak
Posts: 3326
Location: Nowhere Special | I did not care much for Amarillo, to dry and dusty. I tried Iowa Park didn't much care for that area either. Now I am in Fort Worth and LOVE it. But the land is WAY to expensive in the area I need to be in for work so the hunt will be on again.. If you have deep pockets or don't have to be in a specific location close to FW or Dallas I would deffinetly try this area. I'm from South Dakota and be prepared the northern horses that are use to that good hard grass hay do not do well on the costal down here. I struggle keeping weight on everything I bring from the north to the south. |
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Tell me about the Amarillo area....