"Amarillo, Faces, Places and Open Spaces"

I have been reflecting on the 14 month experience of writing "Amarillo, Faces, Places & Open Spaces" and decided to share some of my observations about Amarillo and the people who live and work in the city. I had the privilege of working with Amarillo photographer, Ralph Duke. We were commissioned by the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce to create a book about the city of Amarillo. As I mentioned several times when Ralph and I visited with local media, the quality of his photography made my work simple in regard to creating captions for his photographs. I enjoyed that experience because Ralph’s photography made people and places around Amarillo come alive for me. Choosing and assembling his photographs into a coherent package suitable for publication gave me the inspiration for the narrative included in the book. It was hard work; yet it was great fun. I think we presented a lovely coffee table book to the city of Amarillo. Our goal was to combine the well-known aspects of our local heritage and traditions with our modern, cosmopolitan attributes to present a comprehensive picture of Amarillo today.

The book was sponsored by more than 80 non-profit organizations, government agencies, businesses, and other entities. I wrote over 80 profiles for those sponsors. I visited at least 75 of those sponsors. I toured hospitals, schools, institutions, churches, and a myriad of businesses. To say that I learned a lot would be a gross understatement. For close to a year, I was welcomed into offices, workshops, employee only work spaces, went down halls, entered private rooms, and was granted personal entrée’ into “behind the scenes” activities that go on every day in the City. I have said publicly that the people of Amarillo are gracious and generous; I want to reiterate that. I can’t imagine that finer people exist outside of Amarillo, Texas. I was kindly and eagerly welcomed almost everywhere. So many folks were excited to show me what they do every day to serve the people of Amarillo.

Just a short time into the project, I had the desire to write a synopsis of my experiences meeting all the wonderful people I encountered along the way. I am now ready to do that. I will endeavor to publish those experiences in a series during the next several months. This blog has been neglected too long…. Writing a book is a little time consuming so the blog has suffered. I am currently a contributing author for a book being published about Lexington, Kentucky. As I finish that project in the next several months, I will write about the remarkable people I met along the way while working on “Amarillo, Faces, Places and Open Spaces.”

Tune in later…..

The Real Estate Market in Amarillo - Alive & Well

The last several months have been so busy. I am actively working on finding buyers new homes. We just completed a transaction for a new Amarillo resident who we helped find a beautiful home in the Wolflin neighborhood. The beautifully maintained ranch style home was so delightful he and I fell in love with it immediately. It sits just outside of the Historic District and is typical of the mid-century construction in the central sections of Wolfin. The beauty of this lovely gem was that it had been wonderfully maintained and updated, yet preservation of mid-century charm kept it special.
We hope to close a transaction in Wolflin Historic District in a couple weeks on a 1927 home that has retained original woodwork, hardwood floors, and marble fireplaces. We also have another Wolflin home under contract just south of 34th Avenue. It has great curb appeal and has just gone through extensive renovation to bring it to a more modern appeal.
Another great development is the discovery of a really cute home in the Country Club Addition for a client who happens to be a friend also. We have the updated, charming house under contract and she is so excited to move in with her children and a new puppy because they will have a yard after several years of apartment living.
We still have a great listing in Lawndale that has lots of space for the price. The sellers want to move to the country so they would love for a potential buyer to give me a call so I can show it!
Our commercial listing out on Loop 335 would be a great place to start a new business or move a growing business into. It has nice offices, a big shop, lots of storage, and 15 acres! Call me if you know anyone who needs such a great place with so much potential.
Last but not least, I just put a beautiful home in the Greenways on the market this week. It was a Parade Home and has many nice features. It has an isolated master bedroom, a second master upstairs, and 2 other wonderful bedrooms with great dormer alcoves. The living areas are open and lovely. Give me a call and let's go take a look!
The real estate market in Amarillo, Texas is alive and well. I would love to show you around if you are a new resident or if you are thinking of moving to Amarillo. If you live in Amarillo and are in the market for a new home or need to sell the home you are living in, please call me. Please look at my website christinewyly.com - several of my past clients have offered testimonials as to the services I provided to them during their real estate transactions. I would love to visit with you.

Inner City Blight in Amarillo

Lately, I have observed the exodus of businesses from the Olsen and Paramount area. Ruby T's and Michaels both have moved to other areas. Other businesses have closed and moved. More and more buildings and strip mall spaces are vacant along Olsen. As these businesses move out of the Olsen/Paramount area the same old thing is happening in Amarillo that city planners have struggled with for ages. This town is sprawling, sprawling, and sprawling with no fill in. People here want "new" and they replace with "new" leaving the old to rot. We have got to have some urban infill or we will end up a city that has at it's core, blighted areas for miles. Many of the core neighborhoods in Amarillo used to be lovely, family oriented, neat neighborhoods. I mean no disrespect to these areas at all, but the current shabbiness is sad and it has come about because neighborhood after neighborhood has been abandoned by those who are "moving up". This is what is happening to the Olsen/Paramount area. Frankly, I am getting tired of driving to the extreme southwest side of town for everything. I prefer Wolflin, Olsen, and Paramount because it is more central to Amarillo. I purposely look for businesses in the center of Amarillo to patronize. These businesses uproot and move to the edge of the sprawl to stay alive. If we patronize them, they can stay in business where they are and our city won't deteriorate at the core.

Amarillo's Historic Wolflin District

Located in the center of the city of Amarillo is the Wolfin Historic District. The origin of the Wolflin Historic District was the purchase of a raw section of prairie in 1897 by Charles Oldham Wolflin and the subsequent development by his family. The dreams of his son Charles A. Wolflin during the years of the Great Depression and World War II came true when in 1991 the District was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The central location, historic qualities of the homes, and the beauty of the tree lined brick streets makes the Wolflin Historic District an attractive place to live. There are many styles of homes, but the flow of the neighborhood is not broken by the randomness of unique styles because brick streets and stately elm trees provide continuity throughout the subdivision. The shady avenues attract charitable walks in the warmer months. In the winter time the neighborhood has been a Christmas wonderland for many residents of Amarillo who visit in automobiles, wagons, and carriages. The magnificent Christmas lighting at many of the homes, and United States flags flying to commemorate the Fourth of July and Memorial Day are just some of the neighborhood displays of community involvement.Often, residents of the Wolfin Historic District have been the movers and shakers in Amarillo, bringing industry, fine arts, and capital to the city. The allure of the Wolflin Historic District is more than its charm and elegance. The spirit of the Wolflin Historic District is a reflection of the pioneer spirit of Amarillo. (Portions of the above were excerpted from the the newly published book "Amarillo's Historic Wolflin District" by Christine Wyly and the author’s previous blog “Amarillo Hometown” articles dated March 19, 2008 and June 18, 2008 at www.christinewyly.blogspot.com.)

"Amarillo's Historic Wolflin District" Book Release Date

"Amarillo's Historic Wolflin District" will be available September 6, 2010. The book can be purchased at Arcadia Publishing's wesite, Amazon.com, and other venues. Please watch the news media for information about book signings.

Unkempt Highway Right-of-Ways

I am disturbed by the appearance of Interstate 40 and other major highways and interstates in Amarillo. The shrubbery is not being maintained, plantings have died causing erosion of dirt onto the roadways, and the weeds and grass are knee-high in places. I had heard mowing and other maintenance was going to be scaled back due to lack of funding. However, isn't an unkempt appearance an incentive for travelers to just keep on traveling if our city has an untidy uninviting atmosphere? I would think, that is a loss of revenue for our city. Isn't lack of pride in our city's appearance self defeating?

New Book on the Wolflin Historic District

I have authored the book "Amarillo's Historic Wolflin District." It tells the story of one of Amarillo's premier residential areas as well as the history of Amarillo, Texas. Release date by Arcadia Publishing is September 6, 2010. We will have further announcements with more details.