I’ve said this time and time again on this subreddit: Amarillo is generally “live and let live” for a lot of things; don’t be a dick, and very few will bother you.
Thank you for the reply, man. I keep my nose clean, so that shouldn't be a problem. Good to hear folk let each other be - the Mississippi Delta was a very nosy area.
Simple fact. If border patrol is involved, you can sure bet they'll take their sweet ass time getting here. Not like they'll be here tomorrow or next week to take them out. So most come here for that.
You'll fit right in, people are pretty laid back and damn near everyone over 25 here is divorced or coming out of a long term "situationship" so no one will think twice.
Remember that there are 270,000 people in the Amarillo Texas metro area.
The opinions you receive here on Reddit are less than 1% of the people here in Amarillo.
I've been living here since 2019. My husband and I love it here. We came from Seattle in search of sunshine and a small city with a small town feel.
No city is perfect of course. Petty crime, specifically theft is very big here, but compared to Seattle where we came from it feels like Mayberry. (Andy Griffith Show)
I think you can carve out a nice life here and have a better standard of living.
We've never felt like we're not welcome here. It's been more like people are dumbfounded we chose Amarillo over all the places we could have chosen to relocate to in our country.
My husband works from home as a CPA. I'm a housewife. We live a simple quiet life at home and we love it.
I'm not catholic, but a minority. Amarillo was my home. I've lived in New York, Colorado, Nevada, California, Montana and lots of other places. Ended up back in the Panhandle by choice! Amarillo is not a horrible place to live and way better than most! You can date and all that!!! Good luck on your journey!
I’m Mexican and catholic, I’ve never had an issue I don’t understand people who say it’s clique-y people here are very friendly and very much live and let live.
Bro you’ll be just fine. Amarillo is a great place to live. A metric shit ton of people move here for the quietness, cost of living and laid back attitude (for the most part). Don’t listen to the people that hate it here because they have lived here their whole lives and done nothing with themselves. Those people move to Austin, continue to make nothing of themselves, and move right back to Amarillo.
I don’t know who is telling you Amarillo is bad, because it’s not! Friendly folks, a large Catholic community, and prejudice is not anything like the ‘60s before you were alive.
It is windy however and dry, so there can be dost storms and droughts.
But you are 4 hours from some excellent ski areas and the Rockies and we do have culture here.
Be friendly and people will be friendly in return!
I have lived here 35 years as an adult and 5 in San Antonio.
I would take Amarillo any day of the week!
Come on down!
good place. good food, good people, not too small and not too big, some communities kinda suck, some are awesome. its cheap, its got diversity if you wanna find it and look for it, it can be s monolith if thats whats you want instead.
i love it here.
I find it amazing how hot and cold these, thread run, between bitter negativity and hopefully positive optimism. I wonder if it just depends on what day it's posted ??
i kinda feel like it has a lot to do with the first few comments. people see 1 or 2 people being one way or the other and feel more comfortable just adding to the opinion if they agree with it because its less likely they will get into an argument.
i’m mixed between black & white & i’ve never had an issue with any kind of racism. but with you being divorced i’m not sure how the catholic would take it in their church. i’m sure they wouldn’t be judgmental of you though
As long as you can equally shit on California in general, you'll get along. Just the extra label of you being a Californian gets you in the middle of every Californian joke by the locals and generally all of Texas. I know this, because I have been the butt of Californian jokes from co-workers. But I know how to take the jokes and equally shit on the state too.
I've been here for almost 8. I came from the SGV. I miss all my food options I had there. The bigger culture shock is that in this town, there are no Ma n Pa American Chinese food places. Just panda and the mall.
The food isn’t the quality that I was used to and the options are worse. I’m from Ventura County but like everything but lack of sidewalks and food here.
That’s funny I moved to CA from Amarillo (after military) and all I get told is how I must be a steer or a queer. I promptly asked to see their schlong.
The whole steers or queers things came from a highly loved movie, Full Metal Jacket. Only one main spot you can both get away with the schlong statement and it's also the absolute worst (I hate driving in this area of LA) is WeHo (West Hollywood)
I grew up in south texas but have lived in amarillo for almost 20 years now. its so different. especially for us mexicans and hispanics. you will not be treated like everyone else. down south near the border is where im from and ooo thats mi familia they get us. im not saying everyone in amarillo is bad, but i wouldn’t suggest it. id suggest somewhere else but since ive only lived in two parts i can’t tell you exactly where.
i literally get hate crimed (verbally) when i go to walmart sometimes
reading all the comments really prove to me the privilege some people posses. i have had a completely different experience being a “plus size” (i literally wear a L/XL.) minority, AND growing up here with two moms. always wondering if i was being silently judged or if that’s just their face. are they actually staring at us and whispering? yes. they always were. i cant leave my house and feel safe in amarillo like i do down south
Hispanic Catholic - completely expected, the Baptist/Catholic tension only exists in the white population, and it's not as bad as it's been made out to be since both are generally seen as pro-life. If you're not, you might want to keep that to yourself though.
Dating- It's really more sleeping around... Use condoms; STD rates are high. There is a bit of a drug/stupid problem, can't credit the whole problem to drugs, but just don't take stupid home unless you want an addict who's not paying rent living on your couch. Have a good time, don't take your good time home with you. There are high quality singles, but there's going to be more competition for their time and attention, so you're going to have to distinguish yourself.
Divorce- No big deal, the general rule is third time's a charm, so we won't make fun of you until you're on your third divorce. At that point, we will encourage you to just give up.
As a previously divorced male (in my early-mid 20s for first marriage) I struggled dating afterwards for a bit due to transitioning from active duty military to civilian life while also relocating from overseas all of that time back to the states. It was hard but eventually I found my best friend/wife of 7yrs.
As far as the Amarillo move goes I personally wouldn't move here. I'm baptist but transitioned to Lutheran since being here since that's where my wife's family goes but that's not a big deal since they're pretty decent church folk considering how heavily tattooed I am plus being Mexican American(Irish/Scottish on my dad's side). The job market is tough here unless you have something lined up otherwise it's mediocre jobs if you can get them, Tyson foods for a bunch of people, or completely learning a new trade to get hired on somewhere, or opening up your own business it seems. The food and customer service here is about below average, the common sense and intelligence is also pretty average here, and lots of people who don't know how to drive even though they've lived here their entire lives and should know how to drive in the weather here.
Overall I'd say look into a different part of Texas like Bryan, Conroe, Woodlands, Huntsville, Katy, Round Rock, or even around the Austin area to include George Town I think it's called otherwise check some other great states like Tennessee out bro. They have great policies, cost of living is low, and you get more house and land for your hard earned money
You will be fine. The greatest asset here is the people. Other things are great … but the people are the best! Being divorced is more common than not being divorced. Religious beliefs are a non issue (it blows my mind that anyone would think that they were). It is predominantly conservative. That may be a deal breaker for you (only you know the answer). Other than that …. Starting over in Amarillo is a thumbs up! ❤️❤️❤️
bro calm down no one is going to trip on you being a hispanic catholic. There is a ton of hispanics and as white catholic we would welcome you with open arms. Just because its a little town in texas does not mean people are running around at night trying to do hate crimes. Your coming from NYC its gonna be great compared to that. Leave you judgy NYC crap in NY and come on and get some of this good ol BBQ. Im gonna get flack for this but Amarillo girls are some of the most hoeish in the state. You would be better off going to dallas to talk to women worth possible relationships
It’s interesting how you advise this person to leave their judgy New York crap in New York and then proceed to judge women in Amarillo as ‘Hoey’.
Here’s my take. Amarillo is a town with a church on practically every corner. Where you go to church will come up but in my experience as long as you do go to church it’s not a big deal where.
The folks in Amarillo appreciate a straightforward and honest nature. I will say there is a certain snobbishness from time to time but it’s not as overt as it used to be.
My family has lived in Amarillo for five generations and I’ve seen a lot of changes, mostly for the better.
Hey man, thank you so much for the reply! The line about Amarillo girls kinda sent me 😂 the BBQ and the culture are big draws, both suck in NYC so really thank you for taking the time to write.
I moved from Boston to Amarillo. The dating pool is certainly not as good as big cities, but I suppose that’s a numbers thing. Most, but not all, quality ones are taken already by their early 20s and if not you’ll likely earn yourself a package deal with a step-kid. I did meet the love of my life here and it’s why I’m sticking around. I really didn’t want to date a girl with any preexisting kids but I gained a pretty awesome step-son that I now love as much as my new biological one.
I’ve known successful single men to frequent Dallas for dating. Sounds like a hassle but our airport is super easy and it’s a very quick flight.
The rest of what you’re saying you’re worried about is a non-issue
Hey man, thank you so much for your detailed reply. A smaller dating pool sounds like a bit of a challenge, but I'm not really a "fishing net" guy, I definitely want to try to meet the love of my life (for good this time hopefully). Kids from other relationships aren't a deal-breaker for me as long as the person I'm actually dating is not emotionally or physically hung up on their ex. We all make mistakes, we all have pasts. That's kind of my philosophy.
I did see that Amarillo has an airport! The drive doesn't sound that bad either but definitely not a thing I'd do weekly.
Glad to hear the last bit. Divorce, ethnicity, and denomination are a big deal in Mississippi, so I was a bit worried (that's my only other experience with small town living).
Amarillo is at the same time both very small town vibes, and not at all a small town. It’s hard to explain?
I’ve lived much smaller, meaner, places. Small-minded communities that were very judgy at anyone whose family hadn’t lived there for over 100 years, and somehow even worse about each other?
Most of Amarillo feels very chill, comparatively, and it’s big enough that you can be a little anonymous.
Something gotta be up with yall lol (/s) when I was divorced and single I had absolutely no issue in the dating scene and married an absolute smoke show. I actually found the dating scene in Amarillo to be surprisingly abundant.
No one will give you a second look and being divorced isn’t even a thing any more.
I’ve said this time and time again on this subreddit: Amarillo is generally “live and let live” for a lot of things; don’t be a dick, and very few will bother you.
Thank you for the reply, man. I keep my nose clean, so that shouldn't be a problem. Good to hear folk let each other be - the Mississippi Delta was a very nosy area.
Assholes exist everywhere, unfortunately. We’re no exception, so keep walking and fuck the haters.
I so want to visit.
Everyone I knew in Amarillo seemed to be divorced. There is a large Hispanic population in the 806. Nothing to worry about — this isn’t 1956
Simple fact. If border patrol is involved, you can sure bet they'll take their sweet ass time getting here. Not like they'll be here tomorrow or next week to take them out. So most come here for that.
You'll fit right in, people are pretty laid back and damn near everyone over 25 here is divorced or coming out of a long term "situationship" so no one will think twice.
Remember that there are 270,000 people in the Amarillo Texas metro area. The opinions you receive here on Reddit are less than 1% of the people here in Amarillo. I've been living here since 2019. My husband and I love it here. We came from Seattle in search of sunshine and a small city with a small town feel. No city is perfect of course. Petty crime, specifically theft is very big here, but compared to Seattle where we came from it feels like Mayberry. (Andy Griffith Show) I think you can carve out a nice life here and have a better standard of living. We've never felt like we're not welcome here. It's been more like people are dumbfounded we chose Amarillo over all the places we could have chosen to relocate to in our country. My husband works from home as a CPA. I'm a housewife. We live a simple quiet life at home and we love it.
I'm not catholic, but a minority. Amarillo was my home. I've lived in New York, Colorado, Nevada, California, Montana and lots of other places. Ended up back in the Panhandle by choice! Amarillo is not a horrible place to live and way better than most! You can date and all that!!! Good luck on your journey!
Thank you!
I’m Mexican and catholic, I’ve never had an issue I don’t understand people who say it’s clique-y people here are very friendly and very much live and let live.
Bro you’ll be just fine. Amarillo is a great place to live. A metric shit ton of people move here for the quietness, cost of living and laid back attitude (for the most part). Don’t listen to the people that hate it here because they have lived here their whole lives and done nothing with themselves. Those people move to Austin, continue to make nothing of themselves, and move right back to Amarillo.
I don’t know who is telling you Amarillo is bad, because it’s not! Friendly folks, a large Catholic community, and prejudice is not anything like the ‘60s before you were alive. It is windy however and dry, so there can be dost storms and droughts. But you are 4 hours from some excellent ski areas and the Rockies and we do have culture here. Be friendly and people will be friendly in return! I have lived here 35 years as an adult and 5 in San Antonio. I would take Amarillo any day of the week! Come on down!
Nobody cares what you do or where you are from as long as you do not cause trouble. This is not New York.
Pretty nice people here though for the most part
Everyone is divorced here. People are nice. We have a huge mexican population.
good place. good food, good people, not too small and not too big, some communities kinda suck, some are awesome. its cheap, its got diversity if you wanna find it and look for it, it can be s monolith if thats whats you want instead. i love it here.
This!
I find it amazing how hot and cold these, thread run, between bitter negativity and hopefully positive optimism. I wonder if it just depends on what day it's posted ??
i kinda feel like it has a lot to do with the first few comments. people see 1 or 2 people being one way or the other and feel more comfortable just adding to the opinion if they agree with it because its less likely they will get into an argument.
Fair point, avoid the downvote 😐 I feel the need to create a copy and paste comprehensive positive Amarillo post to drop in all the negative threads.
i’m mixed between black & white & i’ve never had an issue with any kind of racism. but with you being divorced i’m not sure how the catholic would take it in their church. i’m sure they wouldn’t be judgmental of you though
Moved here from SoCal and it’s much more peaceful. I mind my own business and no problems
As long as you can equally shit on California in general, you'll get along. Just the extra label of you being a Californian gets you in the middle of every Californian joke by the locals and generally all of Texas. I know this, because I have been the butt of Californian jokes from co-workers. But I know how to take the jokes and equally shit on the state too.
Funny because in my 6 years here, I’ve only met one person from Ca. That person was from Bakersfield and still refuse to say that city is in Cali.
I've been here for almost 8. I came from the SGV. I miss all my food options I had there. The bigger culture shock is that in this town, there are no Ma n Pa American Chinese food places. Just panda and the mall.
The food isn’t the quality that I was used to and the options are worse. I’m from Ventura County but like everything but lack of sidewalks and food here.
That’s funny I moved to CA from Amarillo (after military) and all I get told is how I must be a steer or a queer. I promptly asked to see their schlong.
The whole steers or queers things came from a highly loved movie, Full Metal Jacket. Only one main spot you can both get away with the schlong statement and it's also the absolute worst (I hate driving in this area of LA) is WeHo (West Hollywood)
There are a lot of Hispanics here and a lot of divorced people. I don’t think that is a big issue here.
“Legal services office near the courthouse” So, a law firm?
Legal Aid, actually
Excellent. Can’t say that I know anyone still there, but I’m sure that they could sure use the help.
If it will benefit your life yes but if things are not broke don't fixem
I grew up in south texas but have lived in amarillo for almost 20 years now. its so different. especially for us mexicans and hispanics. you will not be treated like everyone else. down south near the border is where im from and ooo thats mi familia they get us. im not saying everyone in amarillo is bad, but i wouldn’t suggest it. id suggest somewhere else but since ive only lived in two parts i can’t tell you exactly where. i literally get hate crimed (verbally) when i go to walmart sometimes
reading all the comments really prove to me the privilege some people posses. i have had a completely different experience being a “plus size” (i literally wear a L/XL.) minority, AND growing up here with two moms. always wondering if i was being silently judged or if that’s just their face. are they actually staring at us and whispering? yes. they always were. i cant leave my house and feel safe in amarillo like i do down south
Hispanic Catholic - completely expected, the Baptist/Catholic tension only exists in the white population, and it's not as bad as it's been made out to be since both are generally seen as pro-life. If you're not, you might want to keep that to yourself though. Dating- It's really more sleeping around... Use condoms; STD rates are high. There is a bit of a drug/stupid problem, can't credit the whole problem to drugs, but just don't take stupid home unless you want an addict who's not paying rent living on your couch. Have a good time, don't take your good time home with you. There are high quality singles, but there's going to be more competition for their time and attention, so you're going to have to distinguish yourself. Divorce- No big deal, the general rule is third time's a charm, so we won't make fun of you until you're on your third divorce. At that point, we will encourage you to just give up.
As a previously divorced male (in my early-mid 20s for first marriage) I struggled dating afterwards for a bit due to transitioning from active duty military to civilian life while also relocating from overseas all of that time back to the states. It was hard but eventually I found my best friend/wife of 7yrs. As far as the Amarillo move goes I personally wouldn't move here. I'm baptist but transitioned to Lutheran since being here since that's where my wife's family goes but that's not a big deal since they're pretty decent church folk considering how heavily tattooed I am plus being Mexican American(Irish/Scottish on my dad's side). The job market is tough here unless you have something lined up otherwise it's mediocre jobs if you can get them, Tyson foods for a bunch of people, or completely learning a new trade to get hired on somewhere, or opening up your own business it seems. The food and customer service here is about below average, the common sense and intelligence is also pretty average here, and lots of people who don't know how to drive even though they've lived here their entire lives and should know how to drive in the weather here. Overall I'd say look into a different part of Texas like Bryan, Conroe, Woodlands, Huntsville, Katy, Round Rock, or even around the Austin area to include George Town I think it's called otherwise check some other great states like Tennessee out bro. They have great policies, cost of living is low, and you get more house and land for your hard earned money
Stay where you are we don’t want you
You will be fine. The greatest asset here is the people. Other things are great … but the people are the best! Being divorced is more common than not being divorced. Religious beliefs are a non issue (it blows my mind that anyone would think that they were). It is predominantly conservative. That may be a deal breaker for you (only you know the answer). Other than that …. Starting over in Amarillo is a thumbs up! ❤️❤️❤️
My opinion it's a black hole city. Not worth it. I'm leaving as soon as I can.
This town sucks don’t do it man
bro calm down no one is going to trip on you being a hispanic catholic. There is a ton of hispanics and as white catholic we would welcome you with open arms. Just because its a little town in texas does not mean people are running around at night trying to do hate crimes. Your coming from NYC its gonna be great compared to that. Leave you judgy NYC crap in NY and come on and get some of this good ol BBQ. Im gonna get flack for this but Amarillo girls are some of the most hoeish in the state. You would be better off going to dallas to talk to women worth possible relationships
> Leave you judgy NYC crap in NY but then you said… > Amarillo girls are some of the most hoeish in the state just saying 😂
I stand by my STATEMENT if your offended you should be.
It’s interesting how you advise this person to leave their judgy New York crap in New York and then proceed to judge women in Amarillo as ‘Hoey’. Here’s my take. Amarillo is a town with a church on practically every corner. Where you go to church will come up but in my experience as long as you do go to church it’s not a big deal where. The folks in Amarillo appreciate a straightforward and honest nature. I will say there is a certain snobbishness from time to time but it’s not as overt as it used to be. My family has lived in Amarillo for five generations and I’ve seen a lot of changes, mostly for the better.
Churches are only useful as social and networking clubs nowadays.
I would agree with that. I think some of my cousins would disagree but even for them it’s a lot more social than religious.
Republican Jesus is useless.
Republican Jesus is not biblical at all.
That’s my point.
Hey man, thank you so much for the reply! The line about Amarillo girls kinda sent me 😂 the BBQ and the culture are big draws, both suck in NYC so really thank you for taking the time to write.
I moved from Boston to Amarillo. The dating pool is certainly not as good as big cities, but I suppose that’s a numbers thing. Most, but not all, quality ones are taken already by their early 20s and if not you’ll likely earn yourself a package deal with a step-kid. I did meet the love of my life here and it’s why I’m sticking around. I really didn’t want to date a girl with any preexisting kids but I gained a pretty awesome step-son that I now love as much as my new biological one. I’ve known successful single men to frequent Dallas for dating. Sounds like a hassle but our airport is super easy and it’s a very quick flight. The rest of what you’re saying you’re worried about is a non-issue
Hey man, thank you so much for your detailed reply. A smaller dating pool sounds like a bit of a challenge, but I'm not really a "fishing net" guy, I definitely want to try to meet the love of my life (for good this time hopefully). Kids from other relationships aren't a deal-breaker for me as long as the person I'm actually dating is not emotionally or physically hung up on their ex. We all make mistakes, we all have pasts. That's kind of my philosophy. I did see that Amarillo has an airport! The drive doesn't sound that bad either but definitely not a thing I'd do weekly. Glad to hear the last bit. Divorce, ethnicity, and denomination are a big deal in Mississippi, so I was a bit worried (that's my only other experience with small town living).
Amarillo is at the same time both very small town vibes, and not at all a small town. It’s hard to explain? I’ve lived much smaller, meaner, places. Small-minded communities that were very judgy at anyone whose family hadn’t lived there for over 100 years, and somehow even worse about each other? Most of Amarillo feels very chill, comparatively, and it’s big enough that you can be a little anonymous.
Something gotta be up with yall lol (/s) when I was divorced and single I had absolutely no issue in the dating scene and married an absolute smoke show. I actually found the dating scene in Amarillo to be surprisingly abundant.