Move to west TX? (El Paso, Lubbock: fit in, crime, schools)

[As Above So Below...]

I came from California as well. I originally moved because my job transferred me to Dallas in 2011. I was transferred again to Houston in 2015. One of the reasons Im commenting is because in 2017, I had a project in Amarillo so I spent many weeks up there during the week and flew back to Houston on weekends. One of my best friends from childhood lives in New Home (just outside Lubbock) and I go there twice a year too. These are just my observations.

Im a little different. I would say that Im definitely more liberal than conservative and Im big city oriented. But I was actually quite surprised by how much I liked Amarillo.

The people there were extremely welcoming of me. Even at bars when politics would come up and differences would be brought up, people were still so very friendly and welcoming. If anything, some gentle ribbing but I welcome that. I gave my number to some people I met and worked with and they checked on me frequently to make sure I wasnt feeling alone or if I wanted to come over to their houses or go out. I was also found that Amarillo was a surprisingly diverse town. For the weekends I was stuck there, I found Lake Meredith and Palo Duro Canyon provided things to do outdoors. Amarillo also has some beautiful neighborhoods like Wolflin.

On the downside, the manure smell isnt infrequent. Its pretty present, but I found that its something you get used to relatively fast. Amarillo is a cattle town and Lubbock is a cotton town. Its also cold in the winter and gets a fair amount of snow which I hate. There is definitely more snow than youd see in Lubbock.

Ill admit I dont know Lubbock as intimately as I know Amarillo, but I dont like it as much TBH. Lubbock doesnt really have the manure smell, but its dusty as all get out. That really gets to me when Im there. But that aside, Lubbock definitely has more of your traditional suburban brands and chains like Costco and I would say there are more amenities there. Most people seem to think that Lubbock has better food than Amarillo and I would agree for the most part but I dont think the gap is big.

This may sound weird but to me Amarillo feels like a small/mid-sized frontier city. Lubbock almost feels like what happens when you cross a college town and a suburb. Amarillo feels more blue collar but also has a small old money vibe to it. Lubbock feels more white collar. I dont get as many suburby vibes in the city of Amarillo as I do in Lubbock. Thats not to say there is none. The area that runs off Soncy, Coulter, and Bell and Hillside feels that way, but its nothing like the area in Southwest Lubbock in terms of suburban feel. Im specifically thinking of anything off Slide Road between 82nd and 114th or off of Milwaukee. I also know of no area in Lubbock that feels like Wolflin, but I feel Ive seen a lot more in the way of really large homes in Lubbock.

Based on what you specify youd like, I dont think you can lose either way. While I couldnt live in that area (too cold for me and Im a big city guy), if a California liberal can feel welcome there you should have no problems at all.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Amarillo is a cattle town and Lubbock is a cotton town. Its also cold in the winter and gets a fair amount of snow which I hate. There is definitely more snow than youd see in Lubbock.

Based on what you specify youd like, I dont think you can lose either way. While I couldnt live in that area (too cold for me and Im a big city guy), if a California liberal can feel welcome there you should have no problems at all.

I frequently joke "the only thing between Amarillo and Canada is a barbed wire fence." No way could I take the winters there with the blizzards they get. I see my friends on social media with their horses all bundled up and blanketed when a blizzard is rolling in, and I'm just "nope."

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by losttechnician

Canyon is south of Amarillo

Would strongly suggest the OP consider Canyon. It's a great place. If I had to live out there again that's for sure where I'd live. I like Lubbock because of Tech being there but Canyon is the one place out there that has some real charm. You have Amarillo to go to for larger city things and you have Palo Duro Canyon five minutes away for recreational things. Lake Meredith isn't too far away for water stuff and Lubbock isn't THAT far away and is an easy drive.

And if OP has lived in Las Cruces, the weather in that part of Texas is like Clovis except in Lubbock it's dustier than Clovis.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

I frequently joke "the only thing between Amarillo and Canada is a barbed wire fence." No way could I take the winters there with the blizzards they get. I see my friends on social media with their horses all bundled up and blanketed when a blizzard is rolling in, and I'm just "nope."

Its true Amarillo gets winters that would be too much for me to tolerate for full time, but I dont know that I consider Lubbock dramatically different. The main difference isnt the temperature because the average highs and lows arent that far apart. It seems to be the amount of snow and number of cold snaps of which are greater in Amarillo.

Still, if I had to move to the Panhandle, I think it would have to be Amarillo just because at the very least there is a lot more to do outdoors with Lake Meredith and Palo Duro.

[Sparrow_temp]

For TX, I'm leaning more toward Abilene at this point. Outside of TX, I'm now considering Pahrump, NV and Cookeville, TN. Pahrump would make a lot easier move for me since it's a 6 hr drive rather than 20hrs or a flight but NV isn't really a conservative but Pahrump itself seems to be. TN gives me an even less expensive conservative area to live but at the cost of higher humidity & more bugs/biting insects.

Canyon, TX does seem like a better alternative than Amarillo. Thanks for the heads up on that.

Feel free to rip on the non TX options listed above -- even the negative feedback helps.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by Sparrow_temp

For TX, I'm leaning more toward Abilene at this point. Outside of TX, I'm now considering Pahrump, NV and Cookeville, TN. Pahrump would make a lot easier move for me since it's a 6 hr drive rather than 20hrs or a flight but NV isn't really a conservative but Pahrump itself seems to be. TN gives me an even less expensive conservative area to live but at the cost of higher humidity & more bugs/biting insects.

Canyon, TX does seem like a better alternative than Amarillo. Thanks for the heads up on that.

Feel free to rip on the non TX options listed above -- even the negative feedback helps.

There's no need to rip on those other places. They are all just different.

I'm not a desert guy so I wouldn't want to do Southern Nevada. Nothing wrong with those places, just not for me. I have tons of family in Vegas and they love it. They are super conservative and Trump loving so it must be ok in that area for that.

I think if youre looking at West Texas, the only thing Abilene really has over Amarillo or Lubbock is the proximity to Fort Worth and that it isnt as cold. As a city, Amarillo or Lubbock will offer a lot more.

[losttechnician]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

I came from California as well. I originally moved because my job transferred me to Dallas in 2011. I was transferred again to Houston in 2015. One of the reasons Im commenting is because in 2017, I had a project in Amarillo so I spent many weeks up there during the week and flew back to Houston on weekends. One of my best friends from childhood lives in New Home (just outside Lubbock) and I go there twice a year too. These are just my observations.

I won't quote the whole thing you posted, just so I can say you pretty much hit the nail on the head.

I live in Canyon, and have lived in the areas between Lubbock and Amarillo for decades, my inlaws live just south of New Home and have for their entire lives, and your observations are exactly the way I see things around here.

All this just to say I think you made a very astute observation about the area I call home, and your post goes to show that a person gets what they give. You showed some open mind, and you got it in return. In My worthless opinion, this is EXACTLY what the world needs more of.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by losttechnician

I won't quote the whole thing you posted, just so I can say you pretty much hit the nail on the head.

I live in Canyon, and have lived in the areas between Lubbock and Amarillo for decades, my inlaws live just south of New Home and have for their entire lives, and your observations are exactly the way I see things around here.

All this just to say I think you made a very astute observation about the area I call home, and your post goes to show that a person gets what they give. You showed some open mind, and you got it in return. In My worthless opinion, this is EXACTLY what the world needs more of.

I very much appreciate those kind words.

I feel like I'm fortunate. I’ve had the opportunity to work so many places. I spent a month in Johannesburg in January-February and another 3 weeks in 6 other African nations this year. You really get a sense of others perspectives with stuff like that.

Bringing it to Amarillo, I raised my hand for the project not just because of the nature of it but because it’s very different from where I live. Despite being in Texas, the Panhandle doesn’t have much in common with Houston. Houston has more in common with other giant American cities like LA and Philadelphia than Amarillo. I’m still technically based in LA so I go there all the time. I prefer going to a place like Amarillo as opposed to LA because it’s a more different place, I’m able to achieve different perspectives from people there and I can explore what their concerns are, what their views are, and what they’re values are.

What I find is that, regardless of whether I’m in Houston or LA or Amarillo or Wichita, we’re all looking for some form of the same thing. We just think we’re crazy different because we’re programmed by left and right wing politicians and media to think so. It’s when we go places that are different from what we’re used to and we talk to those with a different perspective that we learn it. Diversity is the destroyer of bigotry. That means not just ethnic and racial diversity but viewpoint diversity.

It doesn’t mean I have to view Donald Trump favorably. There are few men I dislike more. But it does mean I need to look at his voters as a diverse group with diverse motivations and be open to what they have to say. The same needs to be given us who do vote blue too. You don’t need to like who we vote for but just understand we’re a diverse group with diverse motivations for doing so.

I honestly felt the love and felt understanding in Amarillo despite being different from most there. I think we in Houston are like that too.

[CzarnyElf]

I would advise you to rent for a while until you decide that you like west Texas and want to live here.I moved a year ago from Colorado and now we want to move back.I would never move for political reasons-that was a big part why we moved and now I regret it.Hopefully our house sells quick and we can move back-so miss the mountains so much( and other things)

[Sparrow_temp]

I ended up choosing the Cookeville, TN area -- technically a bit closer to Sparta, TN. I've never lived in the SE part of the country so that will be new. Things were a bit cheaper in TN; they still have no state income tax but don't have the highest property tax to make up for it. I think the deciding factors were having Nashville as a transportation hub, fiber internet, and closer proximity to MI where I still have family located. The biggest downside will be the humidity to go along with the high temperatures in summer.

Thanks for those who opined about TX even though I chose TN this time around.