Lubbock Questions (apartment, renting, crime)

[93651]

Have a good job opportunity there and have been twice for just a couple days each but have some questions for the residents. Thank you in advance for your answers.

1. Apartment recomendations for a family? Preferably 3 bedroom but can make two work will only be in for 6 months and hopefully have a house after that.

2. What would an average electric bill be for a three bedroom house in say January and then a July bill? Does that include gas or only electric?

3. Does Lubbock have street fairs/festivals at different times throughout the year?

4. My wife is a teacher. Are teaching job usually fairly easy to get?

5. Exactly how often does Lubbock experiance severe weather (a rough number of days out of the year)? By this I mean really windy above 30 mph, snowy days/nights, dust storms (saw these on youtube and they look somewhat interesting). I'm one of those people that like the weather changing all the time. Were we live now it's the same thing for weeks and sometimes months at a time.

6. Concerning city parks. I saw you had quite a few. Do they charge to park car/use the parks? Can you bbq there? If so are bbq's there or do you need to bring your own? Do any have disc golf coarses?

7. Problems with tagging/gangs? The reason I ask is because were we currently live there has been an upswing in this crap. In fact a couple different guys I work with have had thier work trucks tagged and fuel siphoned in certain parts of town.

Thanks again. And if you can think of any other useful info for someone new to the area please post.

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by 93651

Have a good job opportunity there and have been twice for just a couple days each but have some questions for the residents. Thank you in advance for your answers.

1. Apartment recomendations for a family? Preferably 3 bedroom but can make two work will only be in for 6 months and hopefully have a house after that.

2. What would an average electric bill be for a three bedroom house in say January and then a July bill? Does that include gas or only electric?

3. Does Lubbock have street fairs/festivals at different times throughout the year?

4. My wife is a teacher. Are teaching job usually fairly easy to get?

5. Exactly how often does Lubbock experiance severe weather (a rough number of days out of the year)? By this I mean really windy above 30 mph, snowy days/nights, dust storms (saw these on youtube and they look somewhat interesting). I'm one of those people that like the weather changing all the time. Were we live now it's the same thing for weeks and sometimes months at a time.

6. Concerning city parks. I saw you had quite a few. Do they charge to park car/use the parks? Can you bbq there? If so are bbq's there or do you need to bring your own? Do any have disc golf coarses?

7. Problems with tagging/gangs? The reason I ask is because were we currently live there has been an upswing in this crap. In fact a couple different guys I work with have had thier work trucks tagged and fuel siphoned in certain parts of town.

Thanks again. And if you can think of any other useful info for someone new to the area please post.

1. If you're wanting three bedrooms, a house or duplex will probably be no more costly than renting an apartment, and you get a yard for your family. Just stay west of University Avenue and you should be fine.

2. Sorry, I can't provide too much information in this area.

3. Lubbock could use some improvement in this area. The Fourth of July parade is the largest free festival in Texas, but there's not too much else that comes to mind. There's a barbecue festival, a fairly large Christmas parade, and a few Mexican festivals (Cinco de Mayo, 16 of September, Dia de Los Muertos). The first Friday of every month is an art walk, and there's a small art festival in the civic center every year. This website does a very good job at having almost every event. Lubbock Texas Entertainment Calendar - Lubbock Avalanche Journal

4. I think many of the schools in the area are on a hiring freeze because of Perry's education cuts. It's still possible to find a job I'm sure, it just won't be easy.

5. Lubbock has many days where the sustained winds are around 30mph. Almost all of those will be in the spring, maybe a couple in the winter or fall when a cold front comes through. They aren't pleasant, but it is still possible to do things outdoors on those days. There's usually no more than a handful of days with severe winter weather. Severe storm season lasts from about April to June, with maybe a couple in July or August. In my 18 years living there, two storms had hail larger than a nickel (the size that starts to damage), with one having golf ball to tennis ball-sized hail.

The days in spring when it's very windy, there will be dust and grit in the air/discoloration of the sky, but that's not really a storm. Storms as are commonly thought of aren't all that common. The haboob that went through in October was the worst storm in almost 60 years. The dustiness has been particularly bad this year because of this being the worst drought in recorded history.

If you like weather that's constantly changing, Lubbock is perfect.

6. The parks are one of Lubbock's highlights. All parks are free. All you have to do is park on the side of the road. You can grill there as long as there isn't a burn ban. There are a couple parks with grills. There's a disc golf course in Mackenzie Park between Broadway and 4th St. that's free to the public.

7. It's not non-existant, but it doesn't seem too bad. Almost all the crime stays east of University. Just like with any growing city, gangs are becoming more of a problem. In my 18 years there, I was never a victim, and the worst I've heard happening to anyone I know is a stolen car stereo.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by 93651

Thanks again. And if you can think of any other useful info for someone new to the area please post.

I always recommend anyone coming to Lubbock to obtain an apartment, or house, with enough garages or carports to cover your vehicles if necessary. We do have damaging hail storms out here on the south plains and one can never tell when or where they will hit. My home's shingled roof in SW Lubbock was completely beat off in the mid-1980s. My neighbor had a larger than softball size hail ball come all the way through his roof into his living room during that storm. That sort of hail is very rare but even the more frequent golf ball sized hail can severely damage a vehicle.

Good luck. All in all, Lubbock is a decent town.