Lubbock Review
-
1/30/2008
When reading this keep in mind that I have grown up in Sydney, Australia, a coastal city of 3-4 million people. So a foreign country with a different culture and a different attitude and frame of mind. I spent 3 months in Lubbock and have been there on a couple plus occasions for two weeks or so at a time. So bear that all in mind when considering my comments below.
The People - The locals are very friendly! Whilst visiting I learnt that my manners were not quite up to par, having grown up in the hustle and bustle of a big city, but despite my short comings the locals were very friendly and managed to overlook my brusque manners. Not the most cosmopolitan of places with lots of white and latinos and some blacks. But it is a rural town so you cannot expect too much I think. Having said that; there are foreign born people of all persuasions thanks to the large Texas Tech campus which attracts people from all corners of the globe. So whoever you are I am sure you will find someone with a similar outlook or cultural background if that is what you seek.
The Economy - The main employers seem to be Texas Tech, the hospital(s), some banks and the surrounding oil/gas and cotton industry. Otherwise you probably shouldn't expect much in terms of well paying jobs.
Housing - It is CHEAP! Coming from Sydney I was shocked to see beautiful houses in gated blocks for $100K or just over. Again though I am not American and I can only compare this to what I know. Housing is affordable though even by American standards. Anybody in a decent paying job will live well here.
Health - Texas Tech has a large hospital that I am told services the outlying communities also. There is also a second hospital on the other side of the campus, whose name I forget.
Crime - Police are active and visible EVERYWHERE. I would always see them particularly around Campus. I had no trouble what so ever but I figure the crime mentioned on this website must happen in the worst parts of town. But even then I cycled all over Lubbock and nobody was anything but polite to me.
Climate - Probably the worst thing about Lubbock. Again, I remind you that I live in a coastal city with a warm and temperate climate and thus I have been spoiled rotten. But Lubbock is windy. On a particularly windy day you have to lean forward to walk into it. Also it is either hot or cold. Nothing in between. It is very dry and the only green parts of town are the parks and the Texas Tech campus. When it hasn't rained in a while the wind will whip up some stinging dirt. When it rains it pours and the streets flood due to the lack of storm water drains. This can make driving hazardous with water being shot up at least 3 feet or more by the massive SUV's. I am not a fan of the weather in Lubbock.
Education - It has Texas Tech which is a good university but I have no knowledge of the standard of the primary and secondary schools.
Transportation - There is a greyhound bus stop in town and boy is it ghetto. Having said that I caught some inter city buses whilst there and I was left alone. There are some bus routes, particularly for Texas Tech students which are very convenient but otherwise you should expect to driver everywhere. This is Texas after all! I did enjoy cycling around town and people were good about me getting in there way on even the busiest of roads. Traffic is non existent and I love that! Coming from a traffic congested city I really appreciate the lack of traffic.
Cost of Living - Cheap! I was tipping very generously because I was always shocked by how cheap the restaurant bill was, how great the food and service were. If you like Mexican food you have to go to Casa Ole and of course the steak houses are very good too.
Religion - I have never seen so many Churches in such a relatively small town. Whatever your Christian faith, Lubbock has you covered. Outside of Christianity though I really do not know what your options are. I do find it a little disturbing that blacks have their own churches and whites their own (baptists in particular) churches too. But who I am to comment.
Politics - Definitely a conservative town. All the 'Bush/Cheney' bumper stickers were amusing as here in Australia nobody cares enough about politics to put bumper stickers on their car trumpeting their allegiances. But if that bothers you then you are the narrow minded one. Take it for what it is and nothing more.
My final comment is that I did detect a somewhat palpable feeling of discomfort whenever a 'rough' looking white person would be around latinos (and blacks to a lesser degree). The latinos seemed to almost actively defer to the white person as if to avoid any trouble starting. This is completely foreign to me and disturbing to say the least.
Having said that most white people do not take that attitude of superiority over the other ethnicities. The university means that there will always be educated and relatively open minded people here. I didn't have any trouble in this respect but I am a white person so I cannot say what sort of reception a black or latino would get.
Victor | Beverly Hills, CA