Young family moving to Lubbock from Cali for husband to start Phd (Canyon: real estate)

[Illbmyke]

This August my husband will be starting his phd at Texas Tech. We have three small children. We have been living in central California for the past six years. We are both extremely unfamiliar with Texas and I have a few questions I'd appreciate any help with.

Would you recommend living in Lubbock or a nearby suburb?

What is an estimated guess we could look at paying for renting a possible three bedroom home in that area?

Are there certain areas we should steer clear from in our search?

We will have a kindergartner and a second grader, how are elementary school?

Any other helpful tips would be greatly appreciated!

[CptnRn]

I have never lived there, but its always interesting to see what I can find out by looking at the data.

You can find a lot of data about Lubbock here http://www.city-data.com/city/Lubbock-Texas.html And a lot of data about what renters pay here http://www.city-data.com/housing/hou...ock-Texas.html

Jan. 2011 cost of living index in Lubbock: 85.1 (less than average, U.S. average is 100)
Median gross rent in 2009: $713.
Estimated median household income in 2009: $38,602

A quick search on this website showed that there are 3br, 2 bath Single Family homes for rent from $1100-$1495/mo. Lubbock Homes for Rent and Houses for Rent - Lubbock, TX Rentals from - Realtor.com® All in the desirable zip codes I describe below.

You can look at the demographics here for each zip code http://www.realtor.com/homesforrent/...700-1500/zl-10

From that it looks like 79423 & 79424 (S & SW Lubbock) are pretty decent areas. Low poverty levels, high to moderate income, lots of children and families.

79407 and 79416 (W & NW) have lots of student aged residents, but otherwise look OK. Median income is close to or higher then Texas Median.

While 79404, 79403, 79415 have lower property values and more poverty. 79415 is very high in poverty.

79401 is curious, it has significantly fewer numbers of women and children living there, property values are all over the place, 40% are renters. Poverty level is fairly low.

[TexasVines]

everything in Lubbock for the most part is on a grid of one mile by one mile sections (a section being 640 acres)

you want to look at Tech Terrace and the neighborhood one section to the west of there

there really are no "suburbs" of Lubbock there is Wolforth, but it is hardly a suburb

you want to avoid anything east of I-27 and really anything east of Ave. Q

the main part of Texas Tech is a section in size just south of there (south of 19th) is Tech Terrace....the western edge of Tech Terrace is Indiana street and west of there the next neighborhood (also a section) is nice as well and both will have decent schools for kids that age

to the east of the Texas Tech campus (east of university) is a nice area as well and there will be plenty of rentals there as well.....the north half of that section north (north of Broadway) is pretty much all brand new and mainly for younger college kids

the south half of that section is mainly houses with a lot of rentals and some older apartments that I would mostly avoid because of age and being filled with college kids......as you get to the very far south east of that section (near Q and 19th) it gets slightly less desirable as they clear out the last of the trash in that area

the neighborhood to the southeast of Tech (Heart of Lubbock) is hit and miss with a great deal of college kid rentals near campus and it gets more mixed as you go east.....the southern half of that neighborhood (south of 27th) has some really nice houses, but most are not for rent they are owner occupied you might be able to find a decent rental in that area, but the schools for kids your's ages will not be as nice as one section over to the west in Tech Terrace or two sections over west of Indiana

south of 34th the various sections are hit and miss with some nice and some not, but most that are nice will have fewer rentals......south of the loop is all pretty much nicer areas with some being very nice and you will pay the same rent if not more as you would pay in Tech Terrace or the neighborhood one section to the west of Tech Terrace....so really you should look to live in one of those areas until you can get more of a feel for Lubbock in general.....you will have easy access to campus, good schools for the kids, plenty of rental to choose from, and convenient to many other things and both of those neighborhoods don't have any really terrible areas though you might have college kids on the block and if right near campus even a lot of parking traffic

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I would skip the section north of Tech (north of 4th street) the schools will not be what you want and the area is not that nice

to the west of Tech (Tech is really 2 sections wide) which is west of Quaker is pretty nice, but a lot less rentals...it is nicer east of Toledo

Lubbock map - Google Maps

on the map stick to Tech Terrace and Maxey Park neighborhoods plenty of rentals, good schools, decent pricing

there are others inside the loop, but you will have fewer options and be further from campus for the same or more money and the same schools

south of 289 is mostly nice with a few just OK

west of Q pretty much sucks and west of I-27 does suck

easy to get around Lubbock and easy to figure out you will know in less than a year where you want to be if Tech Terrace or Maxey Park are not to your liking and you will know where to avoid unless ghetto is to your liking

any other questions feel free to ask

Lubbock will be a lot like Bakerspatch only flatter by a mile and safer than Fresno or Modesto

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

From that it looks like 79423 & 79424 (S & SW Lubbock) are pretty decent areas. Low poverty levels, high to moderate income, lots of children and families.

Indeed, this is the best area of town overall as far as safety and convenience to amenities.

79407 and 79416 (W & NW) have lots of student aged residents, but otherwise look OK. Median income is close to or higher then Texas Median.

Both of these have a wide socioeconomic distribution. There are tons of apartments and duplexes where the students and lower middle class families live, but many of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Lubbock are here as well.

While 79404, 79403, 79415 have lower property values and more poverty. 79415 is very high in poverty.

Basically, this boils down to avoid the areas east of Avenue Q, as well as the Arnett-Benson neighborhood (the area immediately north of Tech). Between University and Avenue Q can be hit and miss.

79401 is curious, it has significantly fewer numbers of women and children living there, property values are all over the place, 40% are renters. Poverty level is fairly low.

This is the zip code assigned to downtown and the Overton neighborhoods. Overton Park was called the "Tech Ghetto" years ago, but a developer literally leveled the entire neighborhood and converted it to upscale student apartments that almost approaches urbanity. South Overton is mostly students as well, but it's full of historic, semi-sketchy houses.

To answer your questions, Lubbock doesn't have suburbs. Lubbock has three school districts. Most of Lubbock is in Lubbock ISD, but south of 98th St. is Lubbock-Cooper ISD, and west of Frankford Avenue is Frenship ISD. All three are good school districts, and your kids will get a education from any elementary school in the parts of town you'll be looking in. The best in my opinion are Roscoe Wilson, Murfee, and Preston Smith, but it's really just splitting hairs.

[rr2005]

Generally speaking, the further Southwest you are in Lubbock, the better the neighborhood will be. I would consider Shallowater, Wolfforth (Frenship ISD), New Deal, Ransom Canyon (Roosevelt ISD), Idalou, New Home and Woodrow (Cooper ISD) to somewhat be the suburbs of Lubbock. I have several friends whose children attend elementary school in Cooper ISD (Woodrow) who really love it. You can search any Texas school's accountability rating here:

2011 Accountability Rating System



Good luck and welcome to Lubbock!

[shoe01]

Originally Posted by TexasVines

west of Q pretty much sucks and west of I-27 does suck

You mean east of 27. West of it would encompass 80% of the city.

[losttechnician]

IMO all the posters so far have been dead on. If you are interested in nicer places to live, check out west of Frankford, south of 82nd street. Frenship schools, nice and fairly new part of town, but is a bit pricey. There are rentals to be had, but it is mostly owner occupied. Beware that the further away from Tech, the longer the commute. If not done during rush hour, the commute is incredibly easy and quick most times.

All the school systems in and around Lubbock are pretty good, although most folks have their preferences. If your children are involved in sports, there will be plenty sports to go around, likewise if they are more into the education part of schooling, there are plenty of academic opportunities as well.

If your husband plans to walk to Tech campus, by all means choose Tech Terrace area. That is a fine area with a wide array of different folks, and lifestyles.

Finally, by all means come to Lubbock open minded. The scenery will take some getting used to maybe, but the city is a real nice place to attend school and raise kids, and most of all I think you will find the people there are very friendly and nice. Always exceptions, but overall is a great place to be.

[texasdreamin]

You also can always go on an adventure and visit Lubbock, via google earth. Just type in lubbock texas in the google earth search bar and scroll in on the neighborhoods. When you find one that looks interesting, do a street view. If you are going to rent, you can check out the property from the street and see the exterior of the property and the neighbor's properties. Clear view.