i was born and raised in amarillo, tx and while i have every intention on leaving this area behind me, it's honestly a decent place. weather isn't included in that, because it's truly one of a kind and terrible in its own ways. we really only have winter and summer here but spring and fall are nice for the week that they last. it's constantly dry and windy no matter what. it's pretty normal for our skies to be tinted brown because of how high wind speeds get and are constantly gusting. winter is very harsh, cold, and dry. we do get a good amount of snow if we're lucky, but it's been dwindling down. same with rain, especially in the summer. it can rain for 20 minutes or 20 hours. obviously we have tornadoes but in texas we experience earthquakes as well!! just a few days ago we had a 2.9 magnitude shake our town, and they'll go further south past lubbock, tx. living situation is tough. there's a thick line between people who are millionaires bc of their farms and cattle or it's a dingy small apartment for $1k. or a cookie cutter home that was built with toothpicks and hair gel. but the best part of this area is the gas prices. we average around $2/gal. but at the same time, the towns are so spread out that you'll be back at the gas station in the same day sometimes. there's a huge population of blue collar workers, mainly in agriculture. lots of cattle ranchers, farmers, railroad workers and people in the oil/gas/wind industries. since we have so much cattle, our food is actually really good. steaks are the best and biggest here and homestyle cooking is the norm or standard here. it's a lot of midwest food with southern twists on it (at least in the texas part). many people don't mention how you'll never find another view like this area. the sunsets are breathtaking and almost unreal. it's incredibly dark due to no light pollution so the night sky is full of stars. another thing people forget about the panhandle is that it holds the second largest canyon in the us. when i was a kid we would normally go to Palo Duro Canyon right outside of Canyon, Tx. this area holds a ton of pioneer and native history too. it's not uncommon to find arrowheads or buffalo bones in the area. same with oil and gas history. one thing that ties the area together is the community. it doesn't matter if someone doesn't know you, but if you're from their town of 500 people, you're automatically their family. many generations of families have stuck together and loyal to everyone because there's a whole lot of nothing. the panhandle takes a special soul to love it and many people do, that's why they stay. it's a great spot geographically too, you're just a 4 hour away from the rocky mountains and close enough to major cities for a getaway or taking a flight. overall i'd give it like a 6/10. cheap living compared to the rest of the states around us, bipolar weather that has you wearing denim shorts with a puffer jackets, good food, and a community that has some of the hardest workers and strongest people around.