Which Texas city is better: Lubbock, Abilene or Longview?

[doctorjef]

Lubbock is a medium-smallish city with some actual dynamism to it, largely thanks to Texas Tech (IMO). It has more to offer within itself than either Abilene or Longview. Longview would be the prettiest in traditional terms (green, trees, rain, no dust storms), but I don't think Shreveport is a particularly great resource unless you just want to go across the state line to gamble. You do have proximity to Tyler, TX for additional shopping and restaurants. That area of Texas isn't exactly cosmopolitan -- neither are Abilene and Lubbock, of course, but in Lubbock people are often very oriented to vacationing in New Mexico and Colorado, both of which are within decent driving proximity, whereas that's not true from East Texas.

If salary were the same, I'd definitely choose Lubbock. If a nicer natural environment is the foremost issue, I'd choose Longview.

[blkgiraffe]

I've been to all of them and I'd go with Lubbock. Offers more oppurtunities, amenities, people, seems the most progressive and overall a nice city. Longview wins in location and scenery. Abilene is just there.

[kenshi]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Longview would be the prettiest in traditional terms (green, trees, rain, no dust storms), but I don't think Shreveport is a particularly great resource unless you just want to go across the state line to gamble. You do have proximity to Tyler, TX for additional shopping and restaurants.

Out of curiosity, why would you choose to do your additional shopping in Tyler instead of Shreveport? Shreveport isn't much further away and Shreveport / Bossier City are much larger. I think it's a pretty good resource even if I wouldn't want to live there.

[High_Plains_Retired]

The difference in humidity alone would cause me to choose Lubbock or Abilene over Longview but some people are less affected humidity than others.

[texasdiver]

Lubbock is only about 4 hours from the Rocky Mountains and skiing in New Mexico. That would be a plus to me.

[TT Dave]

I'm from Abilene and I've lived here for many years. I also lived in Lubbock for a few years while attending Texas Tech. Generally speaking, Abilene is a good place to live for families, not so great for single people like me...lol. The public schools here are pretty good too. Abilene is about a 2 hour drive from DFW and about a 3-4 hour drive to the Hill Country area, so that's a plus. Lubbock is larger and there are a lot more things to do there for both families and single people. As a result, I personally prefer Lubbock. On the other hand, Lubbock is further from the other major metro areas in Texas. The climates of the two cities are similar, however, it's a little colder in Lubbock in the winter. As mentioned above, Lubbock is much closer to the ski resorts in New Mexico, so I guess it just depends on what your friends like to do. I don't know anything about Longview. It's one of the few cities in Texas I've never been to.

[MidwesternMan015]

I would say Lubbock because of Texas Tech.