AMARILLO: What I Saw SHOCKED Me - Much Of The City's Center Is In Decay

As someone who lives in Amarillo, downtown isn’t the hotspot on a Sunday afternoon that it may be in other cities. However, there is still things to do downtown on a Sunday. There’s the minor league baseball team that plays at Hodgetown, the relatively new baseball field off of Buchanan. There is also Crush and several other great restaurants downtown that are open on Sunday. As for the route you took on your tour of the city, you went down exactly the ring roads that are mostly businesses and such. At one point you were across the intersection from Crush which has several cars parked in front of it and Six Car Pub & Brewery is in the other half of the same building. Amarillo isn’t like most other cities. The vast majority of downtown is professional business offices and the like, so it’s not as busy on a Sunday like other cities that may have shopping and other attractions in their city centers. If you want to see downtown alive. Come down Polk St. on a Friday or Saturday night. You will see a pretty lively nightlife scene. But other than that, and a few restaurants, there just isn’t much to do there in a Sunday afternoon. I just felt that, as a resident of the city, I didn’t feel this video was a good portrayal of Amarillo overall. But someone just passing through could absolutely be forgiven for having the impression expressed in this video. If the creator would like to see downtown busy and bustling, they should visit during the week or on a Friday or Saturday night. Otherwise, it should also be known that what you can see from the interstates is only a fraction of Amarillo and what is actually here. Lol! I just feel sad that this was the creator’s first impression of exploring downtown. It’s really not as barren as it appeared this day. 😂

Being someone who grew up in Amarillo and one who still visits often, you have to realize something about the people from Amarillo. We are very traditional. On Sunday mornings, most people are in church. If you had gone to a church parking lot, you would have seen it full.Then most people spend time with their families. Also, Amarillo is a zoned city: businesses and homes are not mixed.

I moved from Amarillo to Sacramento, CA in the ‘90s. Believe me this looks wonderful : clean, no trash, no tents blocking the sidewalks and no drug zombies everywhere. Good job AMARILLO!

I have easily learned as much in the comments as I have from watching the videos. Thank you everyone for sharing your many informative perspectives....

I have lived in Amarillo for about 75 years. I think the biggest problem the city has is our management. They come from the rich property owners, and they own most of that downtown area you show in your video. They are not interested in helping the working class but if you have several million dollars and move here, they will hook you up.

The wind never stops in Amarillo!

Was born and raised in Rillo moved away in 2015. The only time downtown was hopping was when I was a little kid in the 80s. Thank you for showing me my hometown, I was feeling homesick this evening lol.

Was born in Amarillo, and moved to Austin in 2014. Downtown Amarillo is not super busy on Sunday mornings because it’s a lot of people either sleeping or they go to church in the morning. Plus, it depends on which part of downtown you’re in. And yes, Polk Street is the main drag. Also, you should go down sixth Street which is over route 66 which is amazing. If it is still there, the Nat used to be an old swimming pool that was covered up in the evenings and became a dance hall. Last I was there it was an antique store with a little café.

A visitor arrived in Amarillo, the first thing he noticed was the wind. "Is it always like this?" he asked an Old Timer. "No, it will blow like this for a good while, then all Hell will break loose & that's when the wind really starts blowing."

The absence of trash and people nodding off on the sidewalks is refreshing. Kudos to Amarillo. When I lived in Denver, the favorite saying was that if you wanted to get away from the crowds on the weekend go to downtown Denver. It’s primarily a M-F business district. Amarillo appears much the same. Your walking tour showed a very nice city. Thanks!

I was born and raised just South of Amarillo, in Canyon, Texas. My family had ~10,000 chickens and we supplied a LOT of places in Amarillo with eggs and chickens, including the Amarillo Air Force Base (which later became an "international" airport). I have a LOT of fond memories of the "big city". My uncle, who lived in Umbarger, Texas, ate at the Big Texan and ate for free... I left the area in 1970, went to Vietnam, and never looked back... Thanks for the memories!!!

It's a hotel from the 20's. The Herrington, a beautiful old building, we have pride in. Love that place inside it's unbelievable lovely.

I've lived in Amarillo since 1976. It's a place of contrasts. The Haves live south of I-40. The Have Nots have generally lived north of I-40, but that's steadily been changing as property owners die off and renters take over. Our weather here is another example; hot, dry and windy in summer and below freezing with a wind that cuts right through you in winter. We nearly always get that one last, late freeze that keeps peaches and apple trees from producing and necessitates planting gardens later than most places. That "big empty building"you saw downtown is our civic center, which is pretty outdated and was recently up for a vote to be expanded and renovated. That was voted down by the majority because we can't afford more taxes to pay for it. Those in charge are trying to force it through regardless of that majority vote. Amarillo has a pretty big homeless problem, and there are beggars at many busy intersections always. I voted against that ball field. I wanted a no-kill animal shelter. Amarillo also has a horrible problem with the unwanted pet population. The Haves will tell you this is a great place to live and to raise your children. The Have Nots know better. It's a place that caters to the wealthier and mostly turns their gaze away from the poor. Maybe it's that way everywhere, I don't know. I grew up just north of downtown. I remember there used to be shopping there; a five and dime, White & Kirk, Woolworths. There were diners and a bakery... Big box and the malls changed all that. Now we have that monster of a ball field many of us didn't want and have zero use for, and not much else. Downtown is filled with offices, a few clubs and places to eat, the homeless and empty buildings they break into when it gets so cold. Doesn't sound to me as if the crime rate has been properly reported. For a place this size our crime is disproportionate. That's an honest assessment from a long-time resident who's closer to being one of the Have Nots than the Haves.

I grew up in Amarillo, born there. We went back last year for my 45th high school reunion (Go Dons!) It's gotten a lot better downtown, it used to have a lot of empty buildings. Around downtown is the "flight" places, where people used to live but left for the suburbs. There are some beautiful homes just south of downtown, the residences of the "cattle barons" that ran the town. The homes around Amarillo College are big and nice. Most of the money moved out west and southwest of downtown. The thing that shocked me was the lack of the big elm trees. Amarillo had a bad drought a few years ago and it killed many of the old trees. Thompson park looks nothing like I remember, it killed many of the trees the kids of Amarillo planted in the 1930s. They've replanted but it will be years before it gets back, if ever. I still love the city, even having been gone for over 30 years. I still have friends living up there, and I will be back up there again for reunion.

From someone living in Amarillo in the 90s it's not been the city I could be since the military and oil left. Now the repair is still years from being taken care of. The refinery land won't be habitable for decades still. All you can do is be kind. Make someone smile that's what makes a town great.

Born in Amarillo in 1951 and lived there till 1976. My mother was a secretary in the Santa Fe building you showed and my father was an engineer for Santa Fe Railroad for 33 years. Downtown has never been a significant Sunday gathering point. As others have pointed out, most folks are in church till noon and then spend time with their families on Sunday afternoons.

At one time Amarillo downtown was very busy. Polk street was full of shoppers and movie theaters. Then the malls developed and all stores deserted Polk. It is now only offices and business headquarters. It is sadly not as it use to be. The building you were puzzled about was the Herington Hotel where many important people used to stay.

Downtown is very, very quiet on Sundays as most places are closed. It’s typically very busy on Friday and Saturday. The large residential areas are in the southwest parts of the city. Downtown is used for businesses, and the baseball stadium is a big feature so the population is more sparse at around 2,500 people per square mile compared to the southwest part of the city at about 6,500 people per square mile. Also to reiterate, since downtown is dedicated largely to office buildings and restaurants that are closed on Sundays so it of course will be sparse at noon on a Sunday.

i live in Amarillo and absolutely love it. Im born and raised. I promise its alot busier most of the time. Never seen the streets that empty before