Why Downtown Amarillo Failed

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  • Опубликовано: 3 дек 2024

Комментарии • 85

  • @QuarrellaDeVil
    @QuarrellaDeVil 12 часов назад +5

    "One really good song" ... written by Terry Stafford, who grew up in Amarillo and who's buried there. I've paid my respects. Also a nice reference from the Pretenders in "Thumbelina", "And the Oklahoma sunrise becomes the Amarillo dawn," a view I've gotten from northwest of downtown.
    Enjoyed your video. Of course, Amarillo is our stop as we're going back and forth on I-40, but I've spent a lot of time downtown, photographing things historic, while we stay at the Courtyard in the Fisk Building. We got tired of the steak place years ago -- their beer is quite good and we'll occasionally stop for a growler fill -- and we found Eddie's Napoli's just a few blocks from where we stay. Oddly enough, the owner's down here in DFW, and his main restaurant, Eddie's EuroMart, makes the news every so often when Luka Doncic shows up when he's got a taste for food from back home. Youngblood's has been reliable for breakfast, Roaster's has been our go-to for coffee when we get back on the road, and if we're there at the right time, Pondaseta Brewing is a nice place to unwind after a long drive. And if you like baseball, take in a Sod Poodles game. That's a really nice little minor league ballpark. Let's just say that there's a lot of "dead sprawl" in my hometown -- hint: there was a major riot there in '67 -- and I see some similarities in Amarillo's landscape, but I'll always find something worthwhile, sometimes while the wife shops along old Route 66.

  • @KingOFuh
    @KingOFuh 5 часов назад +3

    Internationally, I guess Route 66 is the most famous mention of Amarillo in song.

  • @calzabbath
    @calzabbath 5 часов назад +1

    Great and very informative video. Texan culture fascinates me, someday I will visit there. Greetings from Buenos Aires.

  • @connerstines1578
    @connerstines1578 8 часов назад +3

    As a native i hate it a little more every year. Because it's technically "cheap", we've attracted a lot of human pollution over the last few years. We'll be the next Flint MI within a decade.

  • @ratboy4169
    @ratboy4169 3 дня назад +8

    The Stanley Marsh art, the big texan 40 oz steak & the flea market are the best parts of Amarillo, the Yellow Rose of Texas.

  • @amdtexas9383
    @amdtexas9383 6 часов назад +3

    Not sure why anyone would want to reduce car dependency in Amarillo.

  • @TacticalJackalope
    @TacticalJackalope 12 часов назад +3

    I work in the new home construction indsutry. Amarillo is growing and will be growing faster in the years to come. Between BNSF growing it's facility there and Pantex now back in the manufacturing process due to the U.S. being no longer in nuclear treaties with Russia. There will be increasing demands for labor and also skilled labor. As things change politically this coming January there will also be an oil and gas boom again for the entire panhandle region. Both Pulte and DR Horton in DFW have been seriously thinking about expanding to the Amarillo area. There is also the FDA facility there as well as Texas A&M's cattle research center. In short there are jobs and that's why it will continue to grow.

    • @re8746
      @re8746 10 часов назад +1

      Very few jobs. Amarillo offers very little.

  • @Shakshuka69
    @Shakshuka69 4 дня назад +11

    Wow I had no idea so many people lived in Amarillo. 200k is a decent sized city, I'm surprised it's not more developed. I pass through every time I drive to Utah or Colorado.

    • @Buckseed
      @Buckseed 2 дня назад +3

      It has bigger skyscrapers than my hometown of Stockton, CA population of 320K and 800K+ metro.

  • @KingOFuh
    @KingOFuh 5 часов назад +2

    People from Amarillo:
    Art Bell, radio host and author
    Lacey Brown, folk singer and American Idol finalist
    Cyd Charisse, dancer and actress (Brigadoon)
    Ann Doran, actress (Rebel Without a Cause)
    Joe Ely, country and folk singer
    Ron Ely, actor (Tarzan)
    Jimmy Gilmer, singer with the Fireballs ("Sugar Shack")
    Jimmie Dale Gilmore, country music singer
    Carolyn Jones, actress (Morticia on The Addams Family)
    Roger Miller, country music singer
    Grady Nutt, comedian (Hee Haw)
    JD Souther, singer/songwriter (New Kid in Town, Best of My Love)
    Terry Stafford, singer (Suspicion)/songwriter (Amarillo by Morning)
    Aaron Watson, country music singer
    Jack Wrather, television director (Lassie)
    T. Boone Pickens, Jr., oilman and philanthropist
    Rex Baxter, pro golfer, NCAA champion
    Trevor Brazile, PRCA All Around Cowboy
    Dory Funk, professional wrestler
    Dory Funk, Jr., professional wrestler
    Terry Funk, professional wrestler
    Chris Romero, professional wrestler
    Mark Romero, professional wrestler
    Ricky Romero, professional wrestler
    Steven Romero, professional wrestler
    Amarillo Slim, professional poker player
    Rick Husband, astronaut & Columbia Space Shuttle commander, killed when craft disintegrated during reentry
    Charles Albright, serial killer
    Brittany Holberg, convicted murderer on death row
    Pattie Albeeph, inventor of the Amarilloburger

    • @marstondavis
      @marstondavis Час назад

      My dad, Earl Davis. Not famous but a very nice guy. He had a saying about the winters in Amarillo; 'The only thing slowing down the frozen wind from Canada was a barb wire fence...and it was blown down half the time.'

  • @PlayaPotna1984
    @PlayaPotna1984 13 часов назад +1

    My mom grew up in Amarillo alongside my aunties, uncle & my grandparents (R.I.P.). I moved with my mom to Amarillo when I was a boy and lived there for a year and a half before moving back to California. She is hoping to visit again soon, although I'm not commited to visiting again unless it's a favor to her.

  • @geofffric4906
    @geofffric4906 3 дня назад +5

    It’s a a truck stop /meat processing town in my eyes 😂. Between 287 and i40 it’s that place you’re bound to stop by. Kool video 🤙

  • @KingOFuh
    @KingOFuh 6 часов назад +1

    About 3 years ago, a surf music band in Amarillo was advertising for a keyboard player. Pretty unusual, a surf band in Amarillo. Anyway, I would have moved there for that except I live too far away, in NC on the East coast, where they hate surf music even more than in Amarillo. I think the photo at 00:24 is from summer 1962, when The Music Man was released. Amarillo has and SHOULD have an Outback Steakhouse, because Amarillo IS the Alice Springs of the USA. Remote, but at least in Amarillo, no one lives underground.

  • @jaredj631
    @jaredj631 12 часов назад +1

    Hey, I love Amarillo. I stopped there twice a year on my way back-and-forth from Austin to Colorado for my hunting trip. The Starbucks employees are lovely and the bathrooms are clean! That’s about all I know about Amarillo and I know two songs

  • @csquared79
    @csquared79 2 дня назад +5

    Amarillo is a gas station.

    • @travisadams4470
      @travisadams4470 22 часа назад +1

      Nuclear station..... .Pantex is right down the road

  • @AJ67901
    @AJ67901 10 часов назад +1

    Interesting video. Amarillo has put a lot into Hodgetown and other stuff and it is the place to shop in the panhandle area.

  • @travisadams4470
    @travisadams4470 22 часа назад +2

    I grew up in Pampa TX. Great people and great place to raise a family, but it's so desolate. There is nothing out there

  • @jadotmoosman4136
    @jadotmoosman4136 День назад +3

    I'll nominate Old Crow Medicine Show's version of "Sweet Amarillo" for your playlist

  • @robertbush8327
    @robertbush8327 2 дня назад +6

    Kind of ended abruptly.....

  • @markpreston6930
    @markpreston6930 13 часов назад +3

    Amarillo is a dump.

  • @ROGER2095
    @ROGER2095 Час назад

    There's also "Am I Right (Or Amarillo)" by Asleep at the Wheel.
    I always buy gas in Amarillo and stop then at the big tourist office on I-40 and get a free map. (They have plenty of parking!)

  • @personnelente
    @personnelente 7 часов назад +1

    This is true all over Texas.

  • @marshallbooker4568
    @marshallbooker4568 2 дня назад +5

    Only thing particularly memorable about Amarillo is the smell from the feed lots.

    • @Mike_Greentea
      @Mike_Greentea 2 дня назад +2

      That dairy cow farm a few miles north on the left is ridiculous. Not only can you smell it it 5 miles away you can taste it in your mouth!

    • @troycarter5190
      @troycarter5190 День назад +2

      I wouldn’t trade the great people of the TEXAS panhandle for any where else!

    • @cameraman655
      @cameraman655 22 часа назад +1

      @@troycarter5190Agreed…

    • @nomaderic
      @nomaderic 20 часов назад +1

      The ones up there near Borger and pampa are worse. On a bad day driving by, even with your windows up it hits you so bad you wanna gag. Idk how the guys that work right up close make it

    • @markpreston6930
      @markpreston6930 13 часов назад +1

      ​@@troycarter5190Ignorant bible trash.

  • @wrobinson1702
    @wrobinson1702 4 дня назад +2

    How long have you been in Amarillo? I lived there for a number of years, and still have many friends there.

  • @erich84502ify
    @erich84502ify 22 часа назад +3

    Don't forget the crazy weather

  • @cameraman655
    @cameraman655 22 часа назад +2

    Personally, I like Amarillo, Lubbock and the Panhandle in general.

  • @Jody-kt9ev
    @Jody-kt9ev День назад +1

    I do not have any idea if this would work for Amarillo, but what Austin, Texas did was put a bunch of condos near downtown. We used to go downtown, park for free on weekends, and go to various businesses. Not any more, you cannot get down there these days due to crowding. Of course, Austin is a booming, fast growing, tech center while Amarillo is slowly growing (wikipedia).

    • @jay48538
      @jay48538 Час назад

      Amarillo is trying this currently. The tall white building you saw has apartments on two floors. It's expensive, $2,000+, but not a lot of takers. Amarillo is not like Austin in that we are small and still relatively easy to commute around. The homeless shelters and greyhound bus station are also located downtown. You can live downtown for more money and deal with more homeless or commute 15 - 20 minutes each way a day. That's why downtown failed.

  • @josephbingham1255
    @josephbingham1255 8 часов назад +1

    Perhaps they can do similar to the Antelope Valley, California. County, State and Federal financially assisted in the relocation of inner city welfare people to "enrich" this rural area. Gangs, crime and lack of safety for yourself and family abound. But the welfare and housing assistance money keep the place going.

    • @connerstines1578
      @connerstines1578 7 часов назад +2

      I think that might actually be happening. The entire south side of the city is transforming demographically at an incredible rate.

    • @josephbingham1255
      @josephbingham1255 7 часов назад +1

      @@connerstines1578 I mean the Government transporting from say Huston. Placing in Amarillo near the downtown with rent vouchers and continuing welfare payments. That's the type of thing happening in the Antelope Valley, and other high desert communities in California.

  • @Chris-lh7wj
    @Chris-lh7wj День назад +2

    You’re forgetting “sweet Amarillo” by Old Crow Medicine Show.

  • @mmasque2052
    @mmasque2052 5 часов назад

    Interstate 40 runs through the northern side of Amarillo, so a lot of the businesses that had been downtown moved closer to that corridor.

  • @joeharris3878
    @joeharris3878 13 часов назад +2

    One these days I'm going to eat one of those giant steaks.

  • @re8746
    @re8746 10 часов назад +1

    Amarillo offers very little. Job market is stagnant to say the least. For some reason they have trouble attracting big business. Similar to Lubbock and Corpus Christi.

    • @jay48538
      @jay48538 Час назад

      Education is part of it and available workforce is another. Major cities already attract those who are higher educated and skilled. A company can build and have the workforce needed without recruiting to the area. Transportation is another. Many large companies don't want to have to connect to get people to places. Large cities have direct flights. I was a contractor at bell in the early 2000s and they flew a plane daily from Ft. Worth to get employees here. Not many companies are going to do this. Lastly, geography. Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle, also Lubbock, are not close to anything that attracts many people. Houston, San Antonio, Austin and DFW already have Major attractions or are closer to other cities with attractions.

  • @SnowmanTF2
    @SnowmanTF2 4 часа назад

    Looking at that expanded bus network, I expect it has similar problems as the one in my area, it over expanded to the point serves no one well. Most of the routes end up in low density that necessitate buying a car to live there in first place, and once you own the car and paid insurance, the per mile driven is relatively cheap, so any bus trip is hardly appealing. Compounded by neighborhoods in suburbs went away from being grids decades ago, so often halve to walk even farther much farther than physical distance to stop, probably does not have sidewalks all the way to/from the stop, often the stop has little to no seating/shelter. Then due to long periods between busses arriving, any line being off schedule can make an already slow trip a mess, though cellphones/Apps/GPS at least lets people identify when there might be an issue. This also leaves the areas dense enough that walking to bus stops is convenient, along with stops in town in close proximity to services/employment/shops, both ending up with frequency times that it is not worth taking unless retired or legally/medically can not drive.

  • @jedwil55
    @jedwil55 Час назад

    Seems more a hit piece on Amarillo than a piece on the demise of the downtown retail area. The loss of downtown seems to parallel many other cities that experienced growth and sprawl. Spent much time shopping and walking downtown but found being drawn to Sunset Center, Woflin Village and other new stores and shopping centers with adequate parking and a controlled environment.

  • @claw619
    @claw619 13 часов назад +1

    N140HL, what a piece of crap. Don't fly on that aircraft.

  • @noant2739
    @noant2739 3 дня назад +3

    Bro, we need an artist to put Amarillo on the map that isn’t country. And the only place you’ll find them are at the 806 coffee and lounge. Literally one of the only places to hang out at for our generation (Z) and it’s sad. Not to mention, when I lived in rillo, downtown, every one of my neighbors cars got their windows smashed in on new years of 2024. Beware of what your doing out there dudes and where you choose to live. The community is VERY hit or miss :(

    • @Buckseed
      @Buckseed 2 дня назад +1

      I was going to say "Bowling For Soup" but they are from Wichita Falls.

    • @cameraman655
      @cameraman655 22 часа назад +1

      No, you do NOT want those artsy-fartsy, commie types….Look what a 💩hole they turned Austin into and they have ruined Marfa.

    • @PlayaPotna1984
      @PlayaPotna1984 14 часов назад +1

      Houston rapper Scarface mentioned Amarillo in the Geto Boys 1996 song The World Is a Ghetto.

  • @bvanderford
    @bvanderford 3 дня назад +3

    Aquifer goes dry no water.

  • @catnappernellie1211
    @catnappernellie1211 6 дней назад +1

    😢 as a lover of walkable cities Amarillo breaks my heart

    • @wrobinson1702
      @wrobinson1702 4 дня назад +2

      Good thing you don't live there, because it's not changing. Ironically, Amarillo is still a relatively wealthy town, between oil and cattle. The people who live there like it the way it is for the most part.

    • @catnappernellie1211
      @catnappernellie1211 4 дня назад +2

      @ they are wealthy but they like it being a trashy, hostile, ugly mess?

  • @JRAJ-1956
    @JRAJ-1956 4 часа назад

    The weather there is absolutely harsh.

  • @280StJohnsPl
    @280StJohnsPl 4 часа назад

    I went to basic training at Amarillo AFB back in 1968 :)

  •  15 часов назад +1

    There were 2 major cities in the Texas Panhandle...Amarillo and Lubbock. Highways and more powerful autos shrank the distances involved so the panhandle only needed one. Lubbock won. End of story.

    • @jay48538
      @jay48538 Час назад

      I wouldn't say either town won. Lubbock has more shopping than Amarillo, but is by no means a destination or booming city either. Both Amarillo and Lubbock seem to grow at the same pace. Lubbock is just more the older sibling. Lubbock gets something and then Amarillo gets it.

  • @Rostov_red_beard
    @Rostov_red_beard 4 дня назад +2

    interesting little video!

  • @eduardovaldez6547
    @eduardovaldez6547 3 дня назад +1

    3:10
    Highly disagree. Being "isolated" from other major metro areas is even more a reason to have passenger rail.

    • @FastlaneProductions1
      @FastlaneProductions1  3 дня назад +3

      @@eduardovaldez6547 most of Amarillo's spending decisions are left up to referendum. Any referendums we have with any significant tax burden are usually voted down 9:1. So an intra city rail just isn't going to happen. An Intercity rail would have to be a federal project. But again, why would you want stimulate Intercity growth with a dwindling water supply?

    • @FastlaneProductions1
      @FastlaneProductions1  3 дня назад +3

      @@eduardovaldez6547 and again, we HAD a rail and trolley. They both shut down because nobody used them.

    • @eduardovaldez6547
      @eduardovaldez6547 3 дня назад +1

      @FastlaneProductions1 Yes, I am aware of the political realities of Amarillo, Texas.
      The city of Amarillo and Lubbock both supported a proposed in Amtrak line, "Caprock Chief," back in 2001.
      I've spoken to local officials who like the idea of being able to take a train to Dallas for the weekend. Dallas, being a popular destination amongst those who can afford to around here, often do.

    • @eduardovaldez6547
      @eduardovaldez6547 3 дня назад +1

      @FastlaneProductions1 The trolley in Amarillo shut down because the company went bankrupt, I believe.
      Public transit such as trolleys shouldn't be run privately. Preferably, it should be paid for by taxes and fares. Car dependent infrastructure is already heavily subsidized, and subsidizing public transportation would have massive positive externalities, for example, health benefits and denser zoning.
      Having intracity or intercity rail wouldn't necessarily bring population growth, it just means another way to get around town.
      I shared your concern for water, brother. But trust me and the numbers, people are not the issue, it's corporate agriculture, industrial feedlots, and irrigated crop circles.
      I believe water usage from ag and industrial can account for 80-95% of water use from the Ogalla Aquifer. So the amount of people living here isn't that important of a factor.

    • @jay48538
      @jay48538 Час назад

      Not enough people for light rail commuter trains and no company wants to connect Amarillo to other cities via passenger train. It's not a destination city. You either like Amarillo or you don't, but it's never going to be a top 10 place people want to move.

  • @JimFreeman-h6g
    @JimFreeman-h6g 3 дня назад +1

    Old Straight George tried to help them!

  • @tomdalton4293
    @tomdalton4293 14 часов назад +2

    One advantage they have is not being connected to the horrible Texas power grid

  • @mikegosselin2391
    @mikegosselin2391 2 дня назад +2

    In 1964, Amarillo voted for Goldwater not Kennedy. LBJ did not forget!

    • @Cam-vz2zk
      @Cam-vz2zk 20 часов назад +1

      LBJ, the architect of our welfare state

    • @garyspence2128
      @garyspence2128 19 часов назад +1

      He didn't think it up or create it. He was just very good at finding the money for it. He was pretty corrupt, but there's no shortage of that in Washington, D.C. And he's a big part of what some folks call the good old days. Back when America was great....

    • @evsal8087
      @evsal8087 10 часов назад +1

      That's actually a local urban legend. The Amarillo area actually broke (barely) for LBJ in the '64 election. The ACTUAL reason the Air Force base closed can actually be found in the old archived articles from the Amarillo Globe News. In 1965, the Air Force dispatched a general to confront the local Chamber of Commerce. He warned them that base closures for SAC were coming, and Amarillo was top on the list as they had more complaints from airmen about Amarillo than ANY other town in the country. At the time local retailers had two prices for everything, one for locals, and a higher price for airmen. Additionally, one of the local high schoolers' favorite past-times was beating up airmen downtown. Amarillo failed to heed the warning, and the base was shuttered in '68. There was no election payback. We fucked ourselves out of an Air Force base.

  • @riku_t0_5avagewilson11
    @riku_t0_5avagewilson11 4 дня назад +1

    Hereford Friona Dimmit

    • @crafterrium8724
      @crafterrium8724 3 дня назад

      was thinking the same thing man

    • @riku_t0_5avagewilson11
      @riku_t0_5avagewilson11 3 дня назад

      @ like how can u forget about those places there’s more I’m not mentioning

    • @FastlaneProductions1
      @FastlaneProductions1  3 дня назад

      @@riku_t0_5avagewilson11 I'm confused are these supposed to be examples of "major cities"?

    • @riku_t0_5avagewilson11
      @riku_t0_5avagewilson11 3 дня назад

      @@FastlaneProductions1 Hereford is just a few miles out holds one of the major beef plants in the area caviness and Friona has Cargill

    • @FastlaneProductions1
      @FastlaneProductions1  3 дня назад

      @@riku_t0_5avagewilson11 I guess I'm not understanding what your point is. Cities with 4 to 10k and one big employer does not really constitute a "major city". Those are generally what most people would consider small towns. Certainly not big enough for voters to vote yes on a rail project. As it would only benefit those in the small towns and not really many people in Amarillo.

  • @yackemflaber84
    @yackemflaber84 2 дня назад +1

    Amarillo by the Gorillaz is also a good song