Should I fall in "Lubbock"? (Austin, Amarillo: apartment complexes, neighborhoods)

[rr2005]

Originally Posted by orbius

Well its a midsize, sleepy, Texas city. If you've lived in a big city at some point in your life Lubbock is going to feel incredibly small after a month or two. The problem then becomes that you're 6 hours away from Dallas, the nearest large city.
So you start to feel cut off fairly quickly in Lubbock.

I can understand that, but if you're from a small town originally, Lubbock may seem big. (As a matter of fact, I know people who won't drive in Lubbock, because it's too "big.") And you're only 1.5 hours from Amarillo, another "big" city. That's what I meant by it being subjective. Also, Lubbock's airport is so easy to navigate, you can jump on a plane almost any hour of the day and be in Dallas or Austin in an hour.

[Cathy4017]

I've never seen a town as well-laid out as Lubbock....and once they got rid of that horrible traffic circle, it was even better. Blocks are relatively square, streets have logical names (numbered one direction, named another, etc.). It has probably changed a lot since I've been there any length of time, though.

If I had to come back to Texas--and couldn't live in Alpine-Ft Davis-Marfa area, Lubbock would be my next choice, even if I would miss mountains like crazy.

[doctorjef]

Of course, you've got a pretty limited number of nonstop, direct destinations by air from Lubbock. That's even true from Austin, however.

I can't imagine anyone other than some old grandma being afraid to drive in the Hub. The major streets are mega-wide, many with three lanes in each direction. To give credit where credit's due, Lubbock has long had great streets! I will always recall my parents coming down to Austin to visit me when I was in university and my dad being shocked by the narrow streets in Austin around the campus area -- after living in Lubbock for a few years he was having real trouble negotiating Austin's narrow little lanes.

Cross-posted with Cathy. Where was there a traffic circle in Lubbock? I can't remember that.

[rr2005]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Of course, you've got a pretty limited number of nonstop, direct destinations by air from Lubbock. That's even true from Austin, however.

I can't imagine anyone other than some old grandma being afraid to drive in the Hub. The major streets are mega-wide, many with three lanes in each direction. To give credit where credit's due, Lubbock has long had great streets! I will always recall my parents coming down to Austin to visit me when I was in university and my dad being shocked by the narrow streets in Austin around the campus area -- after living in Lubbock for a few years he was having real trouble negotiating Austin's narrow little lanes.

Cross-posted with Cathy. Where was there a traffic circle in Lubbock? I can't remember that.

But, in response to being isolated from the nearest "big city," you have short, direct flights from Lubbock to Austin, Dallas, even Las Vegas throughout the day. I've always found the airport staff to be friendly and helpful, and check-in, security and parking are quick and easy.

The streets are super-easy to navigate, but there are a few folks from the more rural areas that are just not accustomed to the volume and speed of the traffic.

[juggler]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Of course, you've got a pretty limited number of nonstop, direct destinations by air from Lubbock. That's even true from Austin, however.

I can't imagine anyone other than some old grandma being afraid to drive in the Hub. The major streets are mega-wide, many with three lanes in each direction. To give credit where credit's due, Lubbock has long had great streets! I will always recall my parents coming down to Austin to visit me when I was in university and my dad being shocked by the narrow streets in Austin around the campus area -- after living in Lubbock for a few years he was having real trouble negotiating Austin's narrow little lanes.

Cross-posted with Cathy. Where was there a traffic circle in Lubbock? I can't remember that.

The traffic circle was on Avenue H between 50th St. and the south loop. It's where Ave. Q, Ave H, Ave A and US87 all came together. It was demolished when they constructed I27 in the early 90's.

Regarding easy to navigate, you really can't get any better than Lubbock. All the east-west streets are numbered; north of 1st st. they are the names of colleges in alphabetical order. All the north-south streets are either Avenue X, where X is sequential letters in the alphabet, or cities east of the Mississippi River, also in alphabetical order. There's a few outliers of course, like University and Slide Road, but for the most part navigating Lubbock is a giant piece o' cake.

After living in Portland for 6 years, I still have to use google maps to find most places I am going; I haven't lived in Lubbock since 1994, but am confident I could still find any address without looking it up.

[doctorjef]

I think maybe I have some vague memory of the traffic circle now, but I rarely had reason to be out in that particular area of Lubbock and never at high traffic times, so I don't recall it being difficult to negotiate. I tended to stay farther north and west for the most part. I knew very few people who lived south of 50th, though I realise that must now seem a shocking statement, given how far south Lubbock has grown. When I was in high school there was really nothing south of the loop and indeed the loop seemed kind of absurd in a way. I know it's well within town now and was even by the mid-'80s when I was last there on a visit.

[Westerner92]

This has turned into quite an interesting discussion, though I have to say, the only thing more exaggerated about Lubbock than the dust storms is the cow manure smell. There is only one feed lot in the entire area, and it's southeast of town, a direction the wind hardly ever blows. Some of you know a Lubbock I never knew, so it's interesting to hear your points of view.

[doctorjef]

Does that mean that Tech got rid of the Ag dept lot that actually was right in the middle of town?

[rr2005]

Originally Posted by Westerner92

This has turned into quite an interesting discussion, though I have to say, the only thing more exaggerated about Lubbock than the dust storms is the cow manure smell. There is only one feed lot in the entire area, and it's southeast of town, a direction the wind hardly ever blows. Some of you know a Lubbock I never knew, so it's interesting to hear your points of view.

It really is. I moved to Lubbock in the late 90's, and it sounds like a discussion of a different city. In the several years I lived there, I NEVER once smelled cow manure. The only feedlot that I ever knew about was near Slaton. Occasionally, you could smell the feed mill east of town, but only at night. Do you think people are mistaking that for the smell of cow manure?

[doctorjef]

Given the centrality and value of the land, I imagine that the agricultural plots that Texas Tech had to the west and northwest of its campus have long been built upon. However, there used to be a crop ag. field on the west end of campus, bounded by University and 4th Street Cut-off/"Tech Freeway". Then, IIRC, just north of the 4th St cut-off/Tech Freeway there were livestock yards and barns -- pretty much in back of the area on 4th Street proper where the Museum was built and all the restored farm houses and buildings are placed. I may have the exact locus somewhat off and the livestock barns may have been closer to the Stadium and old coliseum parking lot.

Anyway, that complex did yield a stockyards type odor that tended to drift west (we lived for a time on 8th St, a couple of blocks west of Quaker -- you could often catch the aroma over there). I assume all that is now long gone??