Amarillo, Texas

===Cityscape===
Most of Amarillo's population growth and commercial development are occurring in the southern and northwestern parts of the city.<ref>{{cite news |author=Chapman, Joe |title=Land Grab |date=February 27, 2005 |work=Amarillo Globe-News |url=http://www.amarillo.com/stories/022705/spe_landgra.shtml|access-date= January 25, 2007}}</ref> Similar to many towns in the Texas Panhandle, the city's downtown has suffered economic deterioration throughout the years.<ref>{{cite news |author=Moon, Chris |title=Downtown Dilemma: How did it happen? |date=September 15, 2003 |work=Amarillo Globe-News |url=http://amarillo.com/stories/091503/usn_downtown.shtml|access-date= January 25, 2007}}</ref> To help revitalize it, the organization Center City of Amarillo was formed to establish partnerships with groups who have a large presence in the city.<ref>{{cite news |title=City's center becomes the center of attention |date=March 26, 2006 |work=Amarillo Globe-News |url=http://www.amarillo.com/stories/032606/spe_4091584.shtml|access-date= January 25, 2007}}</ref> Since its conception in the 1990s, Center City has sponsored public art projects and started block parties in the downtown area.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Center City |title=Polk Street Block Party |url=http://www.centercity.org/blockparty.html |access-date=February 4, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060828000235/http://www.centercity.org/blockparty.html |archive-date= August 28, 2006}}</ref>

The 31-story [[FirstBank Southwest Tower]] was opened in Amarillo's downtown in 1971.<ref>{{cite news |author=Berzanskis, Cheryl |title=Bank One Center to be renamed in Chase merger |date=June 10, 2004 |work=Amarillo Globe-News |url=http://amarillo.com/stories/061004/new_bankone.shtml|access-date= January 25, 2007}}</ref> Completed in the same year as the FirstBank Southwest Tower, the Amarillo National Bank Plaza One building houses the headquarters of [[Amarillo National Bank]], the city's largest financial institution.<ref>{{cite web |author= Amarillo National Bank |url= http://www.anb.com/bankHistory.asp |title= Bank History |access-date= August 7, 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060717014706/http://www.anb.com/bankHistory.asp |archive-date= July 17, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Hartnett, Dwayne |title=Money Talk |date=February 27, 2005 |work=Amarillo Globe-News |url=http://www.amarillo.com/stories/022705/spe_mtalk.shtml|access-date= January 25, 2007}}</ref> The [[Santa Fe Building (Amarillo)|Santa Fe Building]], completed in 1930, was the regional offices of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, but was vacant for several years until Potter County bought the building for $426,000 in 1995 to gain new office spaces.<ref>{{cite news |author=Lutz, Jennifer |title=Renovated Santa Fe Building sparkles in debut |date=August 6, 2000 |work=Amarillo Globe-News |url=http://www.amarillo.com/stories/080600/new_santafe.shtml|access-date= January 25, 2007}}</ref>

[[File:Amarillo skyline, 2007.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|FirstBank Southwest Tower, the tallest building in the city, dominates the skyline of downtown Amarillo.]]
Amarillo's historic homes and buildings listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] reflect the economic growth from around 1900 to the start of World War II. Polk Street contains many of the city's historic downtown buildings and homes. The large historic homes on this street were built close to downtown, and homes were located on the west side of the street as a symbol of status because they would be greeted with the sunrise every morning.<ref>{{cite web|author=Excursia / Best Read Guide |url=http://excursia.com/destinations/USA/TX/amarillo/stories/20000929/att_historictour.shtml |title=Take a Historic Tour of Amarillo |access-date=March 11, 2006 |author-link=Morris Communications |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060107232826/http://excursia.com/destinations/USA/TX/amarillo/stories/20000929/att_historictour.shtml |archive-date=January 7, 2006}}</ref>

The city of Amarillo's Parks and Recreation Department operates over 50 municipal parks, including a [[skatepark]] west of the city. Amarillo's largest parks are Medical Park, Thompson Memorial Park, and Memorial Park, near Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus. From 1978 to 2002, the [[Junior League]] of Amarillo and the city of Amarillo's Parks and Recreation Department co-sponsored Funfest, a family entertainment festival, benefiting the city parks and the league's Community Chest Trust Fund. Funfest was held in Thompson Memorial Park during [[Memorial Day]] weekend.<ref>{{cite news |title=Junior League eyes end to Funfest |date=January 25, 2001 |work=Amarillo Globe-News |url=http://www.amarillo.com/stories/012501/new_funfest.shtml|access-date= January 25, 2007}}</ref> At the time, the festival included Amarillo's only {{convert|42.2|km|mi|adj=on}} foot race, the Funfest Marathon.