Lubbock,Texas Skyline (Dallas, San Antonio, Midland: real estate, rental homes, condos)

[sylwes]

I grew up in Lubbock, Texas and after being gone for 42 years I wanted to go back to see all the changes the city had made since I had lived there. I talked my wife into taking a trip to see My loving hometown that I had not seen in so long. In 2007 we made the visit to Lubbock and I was astonished at what we saw. The city had hardly changed at all. The same old skyline and outdated buildings and the same old tallest building that I watched being built in the 1950's. We went to the eastern side of Lubbock to see where I last lived and was almost sick to see it was all the same but rundown and old with nearly no change. To make a long story short I was ashamed of what the city leaders had let the town come to which was nearly no change to the slummy areas and outdated town. Lubbock is in great need of change in leadership and policy to bring growth to what can be a beautiful city. This city should have by now a growth population of at least 300,000 to 400,000 by now. Midland, Texas was a much smaller town than Lubbock but now it has a much nicer skyline and looks more like a modern city than does Lubbock. It makes me sick to see what Lubbock looks like now with almost no change to the older parts of town.

[shoe01]

Hopefully, the plan in the link is a catalyst for better things for East Lubbock:

Gateway to East Lubbock expected to bring change | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

A few buildings Downtown have been renovated since 2007, and $90 million has been raised to build a $150 million-plus performing arts center next to the Civic Center. More buildings are scheduled to be redone in the next few years in the CBD, and the lead redevelopment guy has said that he has received a lot of interest in new construction from various people. He has also said that the biggest obstacle is exposed wiring above alleys, which is being dealt with.

People are also hoping that North Side neighborhoods can be helped since they're slated to be removed from a flood plain, thanks to a large-scale drainage project.

Also, in the last 15 years one of the two neighborhoods between Downtown and Tech has been transformed from the highest-crime part of the city to a place with many Tech students and businesses (back in '07 it didn't look like much). Unfortunately, development has been rather limited east of Avenue Q (so far).

[case44]

Originally Posted by sylwes

I grew up in Lubbock, Texas and after being gone for 42 years I wanted to go back to see all the changes the city had made since I had lived there. I talked my wife into taking a trip to see My loving hometown that I had not seen in so long. In 2007 we made the visit to Lubbock and I was astonished at what we saw. The city had hardly changed at all. The same old skyline and outdated buildings and the same old tallest building that I watched being built in the 1950's. We went to the eastern side of Lubbock to see where I last lived and was almost sick to see it was all the same but rundown and old with nearly no change. To make a long story short I was ashamed of what the city leaders had let the town come to which was nearly no change to the slummy areas and outdated town. Lubbock is in great need of change in leadership and policy to bring growth to what can be a beautiful city. This city should have by now a growth population of at least 300,000 to 400,000 by now. Midland, Texas was a much smaller town than Lubbock but now it has a much nicer skyline and looks more like a modern city than does Lubbock. It makes me sick to see what Lubbock looks like now with almost no change to the older parts of town.

In the last ten years since you've visited, Lubbock has seen more changes to the area than they have in years prior, with some of it happening in the Overton area (dramatic changes including a new convention center hotel), the southwest side, and the northwest side.

The city has a new mayor named Dan Pope, and from what I've seen, he appears to be a man with some vision. I plan to write to him real soon with some ideas for Lubbock's east side, which is the first thing I see when traveling to that city (coming from the Dallas area). Every time I drive along Idalou Road between MLK and Broadway, I keep scratching my head wondering why there is no development there. That would be the ideal location for grocery stores, shops, pad sites, fast food, gas stations, banks, other businesses, medical offices, and more. And I'm with you on the downtown area. They didn't take advantage of growth in the 1970s during their recovery from that horrible tornado and should have, at least, built a 30-story office building during that time. That would have been a reasonable thing to do.

But fast-forward to today, and I can tell you that downtown is slowly making new progress, and much of it at ground level. Auto magnate Bart Reagor is one of the people leading the charge to get that part of town revitalized. It's going to take a lot more people, but it is a start to something.

I'm with you. This is supposed to be --- and can be --- the crown jewel of West Texas. It's got a ways to go, but there's more effort put into this today than there had been in some time.

[shoe01]

To add to what has been mentioned, the city has roughly 250,000 people (probably a bit more), and the latest US Census Bureau estimate puts the county at around 303,000. I think the metro is something like 320k.

One would hope that the $1 billion or so spent on construction at Tech over the last seven years would have a spillover effect on the city...

[shoe01]

This was taken back in December:

https://twitter.com/therealdkuntz/st...23323651063808

Shows Jones Stadium in the foreground, and in the back of it is the North Overton neighborhood with the Overton Hotel & Conference Center sort of sticking out. Across from that is the Hyatt Place. Surrounding those are various forms of student housing and a sports bar. On University Ave. sit a lot of new restaurants and other businesses.

Can see how the Downtown skyline still hasn't changed much, but the new development now stretches to Avenue Q.

Some say that the redevelopment was the largest in the nation. It replaced a neighborhood that was made up of something like 97% rental homes, many of which were likely vacant and in various states of disrepair. Tech officials have mentioned how the revitalization has saved the university millions in dorm and parking garage construction costs while enrollment has grown by something like 10,000.

[sylwes]

I am pleased to here more attention is being given to Lubbock development and growth. I am for college growth and development, but at the same time I think the city needs to be focused on bringing in families to the city. I now live in a small college town, and the town leaders are more focused on the college growth than families. Now the college has grown but the families and housing are declining. With this attitude the families are being pushed out and more college housing is being built. Not much future for families in this town. I think if more is focused on the city, the college will grow with it. Wesley

[shoe01]

Originally Posted by sylwes

I am pleased to here more attention is being given to Lubbock development and growth. I am for college growth and development, but at the same time I think the city needs to be focused on bringing in families to the city. I now live in a small college town, and the town leaders are more focused on the college growth than families. Now the college has grown but the families and housing are declining. With this attitude the families are being pushed out and more college housing is being built. Not much future for families in this town. I think if more is focused on the city, the college will grow with it. Wesley

Both the city and Tech have grown significantly in recent years. Like most cities its size, the growth has mainly been along the edges (in Lubbock's case, the SW, west, and NW sides have been popular). An economist last year said that Lubbock's percentage growth this decade has been in line with the state's, unlike previously. Administrators at Tech don't seem to be extremely concerned about enrollment growth, as they have forecast the main campus population to increase from 37,010 last fall to 44,500 in 2025 (with a projected system endowment of over $2 billion, up from approximately $1.3B now).

Downtown has been taking small to big steps toward improvement in the last year. The $154 million Buddy Holly Hall construction site on the Marsha Sharp Freeway is now noticeable from a good distance away, and should open by early 2020. The CBD's first new microbrewery (The Brewery LBK) in 20 years opened a few weeks ago in the Pioneer Condos Building, and another (Two Docs) is scheduled to open in fall next to the Underwood Center for the Arts. A permanent food truck lot was announced, and it's also next to LHUCA. A new 180-room hotel just west of the Wells Fargo Building is being designed by the Valencia Group, who owns the Valencia Hotel in San Antonio, among other properties in the state. The city has floated the idea of a civic center hotel, but with no timetable. There are rumors of more planned businesses there, but it would probably be premature to discuss them here. The people in charge of Downtown redevelopment have said that there are residential spaces planned for everyone, as opposed to just college students like in North Overton.

A real estate group recently announced a possible replacement for the Lubbock Coliseum just SE of the airport, which would be among the first projects in a new community there on the NE side:
Texas Tech University's UrbanTech Design Center announces Agrari - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

(A vote took place last month that moves ownership of the Coliseum/Auditorium complex to Tech, which wants to demolish it in order to make room for expansion of Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park and to possibly build new athletic dorms. The city was losing $600k a year operating the 1956 complex, an amount which likely would have increased once Buddy Holly Hall was finished.)

Since you mentioned families, 4ore Golf opened recently on 66th St. near US 82 on the SW side, and the people in charge of Adventure Park Lubbock at 34th St. and Slide Rd. hope to show it off before the new year, after some delays. A new non-profit aquarium next door is in the early fundraising period. Since Lubbock draws people from all over the region, attractions like these make sense.

[shoe01]

Taken last weekend when it rained:

https://twitter.com/FletcherAerial/s...12381264396289

(Also a fan of these pics, taken a little later, showing Covenant Medical Center, Maxey Park, and the SW side)