Lubbock versus Amarillo: Which City is Better? (Fort Worth, Santa Fe: home, new construction)

[brokentulsa]

I live in Lubbock now. I hate it. I hate that Lubbock is more conservative. I hate Tech...and all the football crap here. The people here are rude. The driving (mostly tech kids I admit) is horrible. There is always dust (cotton) in the air. Amarillo is more laid back. It defiantly has a more city feel to it. If you are not into cotton, medical or tech you will not find a good job worth keeping in Lubbock. I could care less about how close I am to Dallas. From Amarillo I could make Oklahoma city or Albuquerque in no time and would much rather visit those city's than Dallas, Austin or Houston. Amarillo has plenty to do. They have music festivals like Party on Polk street, they have 6th street with alot of cool Rt.66 happenings. They also have some nice laid back clubs and shopping on sixth street. Their mall is 100 times what Lubbock's is. It really just depends on what you are into that dictates which city has the most to do. I prefer Amarillo and plan to move back there in a couple of months. It just offers me more and I like the weather and the people and the city more.

[losttechnician]

A little more objective view, since I actually *LIKE* both cities of Amarillo and Lubbock.

Amarillo's mall is a decade newer than Lubbock's, however Lubbock's mall is larger. According to wikipedia, South Plains mall is 1.2 million sq ft. Amarillo's mall according to their website is 877,673. To say Amarillo's mall is 100 times that of Lubbock's mall is a complete falsehood.

Google maps says:
Lubbock - Albuquerque 321 miles
Amarillo - Albq 288 miles This is all I-40 and much quicker than the LBK-Albq route

Lubbock - OKC 349 miles
Amarillo - OKC 260 miles

The drive to DFW is a much better drive from Amarillo than it is from Lubbock, I have made the drive numerous times over the last 30 years I have lived in the Tx panhandle. The drives to ALBQ and OKC are much more comfy from Amarillo than from Lubbock, seeing as how I-40 would be the highway of choice.

Having lived all of that time either in or next to both Lubbock and Amarillo, I can say that both have their points. If a young person is looking for a party scene, Lubbock's will be dominated by Texas Tech students. I am not familiar with either city's party scene however, so can't say much about it.

As for blowing dust.... Yes, Lubbock has much more blowing dust than Amarillo does. Cotton *IS* king in Lubbock, Amarillo having little cotton farming in comparison. The wind blows non stop in both cities though, and in Amarillo the blowing wind picks up the odor of local cow lots.

As for finding a good job, it all depends on what you do. If you are an investment banker, chances are you aren't looking at either city. If you are a university professor, then Lubbock is the way to go. If you are an industrial plant manager, Amarillo might be easier to find a job in. The economies of the two cities are very different, even though they have in common a very large medical base. Lubbock has Tech, farming, and banking, while Amarillo is much heavier in industrial.

Having lived in both cities, I can tell you from first hand experience that there are plenty of folks in BOTH cities that tell you (a) their city is better, or (b) the OTHER city is better.

I just happen to think they are both pretty good places to live.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by losttechnician

Google maps says:
Lubbock - Albuquerque 321 miles
Amarillo - Albq 288 miles This is all I-40 and much quicker than the LBK-Albq route

Yes but the trip from Lubbock to Albuquerque via Clovis, Fort Sumner, Santa Rosa is much more interesting than I-40 from Amarillo. It's even more interesting if one continues west to Vaughn, NM and all the way to Mountainair, NM then north through the Estancia Valley to Moriarty or Tijeras.

But back to the subject at hand, I much prefer the smell of Lubbock's cotton over Amarillo's cows.

[augiedogie]

There's almost no point to this discussion. There isn't that much difference between them except for Texas Tech, a zoo, Pala Durro Canyon, I-40, and a famous steakhouse.

[nategdh]

The two cities are more alike than different. They are both good sized cities ( Lubbock only has about 40,000 more people) The big differences that I see are Tech brings a lot of concerts and games so people make their trip out here. If somebody is going down I40 they might have to make a stop in Amarillo. People can say Lubbock only grew the way it did because of tech all they want. A lot of cities grew because of a big university not just LBK

[Doubletswarm]

For what it is worth, I live in DFW. I just met a person who lived in Amarillo. She was in her mid 30’s. She said she drove to Lubbock every weekend. She hated Amarillo (nothing to do). I have also heard several other people make this comment. I guess if you are younger (under 60), you preffer Lubbock. 60+ like Amarillo since it is quiet and laid back.

[C24L]

I pick Lubbock.

[LiveUrban]

I'd rather live in Lubbock. Seems as though there is a lot more to do.

[MarshaBrady1968]

Ew. C, none of the above.

[ScaryTucson]

D) Big Spring - if you want to live in West-Central Texas
E) Abilene
F) Leave the state