Strong chance the wife and I will be moving back to the panhandle in a few months. If we do we will be looking to live in the Canyon/Amarillo area. What are some areas to look at to rent in and some areas to avoid? What could I expect to pay per month for a 12-1500 sq ft house? I will be commuting to plainview so Caynon would be preferred. TIA

There are few places to avoid in Canyon. Really few "bad" neighborhoods. About the only bad ones are the ones adjacent to the east-west railroad tracks.

I don't blame you for wanting to live here, but a 50 minute one way commute could be brutal. As long as the weather is good, though it's all I-27, which helps.

Can't help on the price, it's been 15 years since we bought, so I haven't paid any attention.

Our neighbors are moving, they have a very nice older home in our neighborhood of 40 to 50 year old homes. It's 4 bedrooms and 2280 sq ft. $164,900 so about $72 a sq ft.

We're pretty much the middle of the road. There are much newer and nicer neighborhoods, and older less nice. So you can go either way.

I moved to Amarillo last month. Most places on the southwest side and in Canyon seem pretty good. The only thing I found was that rental prices are high and are probably out of whack with sale prices. I decided to take an apartment for 6-12 months and find something to buy because it will be a lot more reasonably priced.

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... but a 50 minute one way commute could be brutal.

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Oh, please. I commute from Angleton to Houston 5x a week. I can think of much worse things than an easy 50-minute commute on I-27 ...

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... but a 50 minute one way commute could be brutal.
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Oh, please. I commute from Angleton to Houston 5x a week. I can think of much worse things than an easy 50-minute commute on I-27 ...

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Yes - we just moved back from San Antonio, where i enjoyed an hour-long commute to go all of 19 miles (one-way) every day. I now THOROUGHLY enjoy my 30 minute (30 mile) "commute" along highway 60 from Canyon to Hereford every day.

As far as housing - we just rented a decent place in the Hunsley Hills area of Canyon - we think the area is pretty nice and the schools are good - 1,600 SQFT townhome for $900 a month.

I do agree w/ the previous poster about rent prices being out of whack - we specifically requested a 6-month lease and will be buying as soon as possible.

[This message has been edited by WestTexasAgalo (edited 2/22/2011 3:21p).]

It wouldn't quite be 50 minutes. The job would be on the North edge of Plainview. I know the roads can get bad though, I grew up in Plainview. If we do go back I would rather be in the Canyon area than the Plainview area any day of the week.

I grew up at Hale Center. Love the people, wouldn't put my kids in Plainview schools on a dare.

Someone mentioned Hunsley Hills, it's the "nice" neighborhood. Canyon North is bigger houses on bigger lots. There are lots of little developments popping up south and east of town, too.

K-8 schools in Plainview aren't bad. The high school is awful and they have a lot of admin issues (mother was a teacher at the high school for 12 years). Plainview also does not have the type of church that my wife and I like. Canyon and Amarillo have a much better church selection, have much more culture, much better school districts, have much better scenery, and the wind/dust doesn't blow near as bad. 100 mile daily drive>>>>>>>>>>>>>> than living in Plainview and anywhere south of there. The people are nice until you hit Lubbock. I would much prefer to be a little further north. Thanks for the advice, I will keep yall posted on if I get the job or not, should know in a few weeks if I make the first cut. Thanks.

"Trust me, I'm a scientist."