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Might be moving to Lubbock

A

ancientsanskrit

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Dec 6, 2003
Messages
1,138
Location
Dallas, TX
Good morning guys.

I just got admittance into Texas Tech in Lubbock for grad. studies. They're giving me in-state tuition and a few other goodies. :cool: Honestly, no other school has been able to rival what they are offering me (not even by a long shot).

Anyways, I know nothing of the area nor have I even been to TX.

Wondering how the Lubbock area is. More specifically, housing. I've always heard housing is cheap in Texas. So I'm wondering what areas are good around Lubbock. I've always been a renter, and probably will for the first year of the Master's program. However, that being said, I have been playing with the idea of picking up a condo or perhaps even foreclosed home. I just hate the fact that I'm not getting any return on renting out a place. Anyways, I haven't really delved into that, and probably is a bit far-fetched at this time.

Any places you folks can recommend is really appreciated.

Thanks for the help.
 
You've never been to Texas and you chose LUBBOCK as your first impression?

:D :D

Just kidding, man.. its not bad.. I don't know anything about the housing market there, though. sorry.
Good luck with the school!
 
Yeah, Lubbock isn't exactly the garden spot of the State! Well, unless you like Japanese Zen gardens with all the pretty dirt raked around. Dirt, there is plenty of! Good luck with the move. Personally, I'd go with picking up a repo. No sense letting any of that money go to waste as rent.
 
Ray said:
You've never been to Texas and you chose LUBBOCK as your first impression?
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LOL I was kinda thinking the same thing.

White99SE said:
In the spring, Lubbock is "Brown Sky Country" 'course a lot's probably changed in the 22 years since I graduated.
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Yeah the roads are probably in worse shape.

All in all Lubbock isnt a horrible place but do realize you're kinda on your own out there in the panhandle as far as other cities and places to go.
 
The roads are actually in great shape throughout most of the panhandle. They are just wide, flat, straight, and insanely boring. And the sky really does still turn brown sometimes, though not very often though. The panhandle is not my pick of places to live but I could think of many places that are much worse. In all reality, the only reason I want to leave is because of the geography. I really miss hills, trees, mountains, and curvy roads.

In regards to your main question, even more so than most other places in Texas, the cost of living is pretty darn cheap in the panhandle. Even though we are leading most research with positive growth in housing values the state is still one of the most affordable places to live in.
 
This is true, especially when considering the panhandle against other areas of the country.

Texas is currently the nation's largest producer of wind power and will be TRIPLING its current allocation and production capabilities in the near future. Housing costs are low throughout the state (in general) and cost of living (food, utilities, etc) are quite low on a nation-wide scale.

Now, the Panhandle isn't my favorite stretch of Texas, but its still Texas and that means its alright with me! :D If you want mountains, we've got some.. you want plains, snow, fields, hill country, plateaus, or beaches? We've got all that, too. It just depends on where you choose to live in the state.

Good luck at the school, and make sure to make it down to another major city out of the panhandle before you decide your opinion on the state as a whole.

Enjoy!
 
cuda06 said:
The roads are actually in great shape throughout most of the panhandle. They are just wide, flat, straight, and insanely boring.
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Its not the roads to and from Lubbock I have problems with, its the roads in the city. Last time I was up there I was worried about bending a rim there were so many lumps, cracks and holes in the roads.

And I agree about seeing other cities as well. DFW isnt that far away and is probably easier to fly into for most people than Lubbock International (Tijuana here we come!).
 
Dyoel182 said:
And I agree about seeing other cities as well. DFW isnt that far away and is probably easier to fly into for most people than Lubbock International (Tijuana here we come!).
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Not to mention cheaper...DFW and even Love Field are usually about 3/4 the price or less when compared flying out of Amarillo or Lubbock. However, if you really want to visit just one place in Texas, try out Austin.
 
cuda06 said:
However, if you really want to visit just one place in Texas, try out Austin.
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DING.

Might I suggest the following:


  • do it when college is IN SESSION
  • visit 6th street on a Friday or Saturday night (branch out and see 4th/5th and 7th streets, too... far too many good shops, dive joints, parlors and bars to miss out on) Don't wear open toe shoes, unless you want sore toes.. the crowds on the streets are like Mardi Gras in NO, especially if there's a reason to party (and Austin has a built in reason.... its got 6th street) like a UT victory, etc..
  • the Capitol of Texas is only 5 blocks north on Congress from 6th/Congress so a day tour of the capitol then an evening dinner/meal at ANY of the VERY differing offerings (thai? steak? barbeque? south american? mongolian? anything you can think of along Congress(N/S) or 6th/5th/4th (E/W), then after dinner hit Coyote Ugly, or any of the other places along 6th street with the massive collections of people looking to party/dance or just listen to Jazz (depending on which place you go in to..)
  • remember that Austin's slogan is "Keep Austin Weird" and that its home to the largest music festival in the Country (South by Southwest or SXSW) (an interactive, music and film festival that takes place all at the same time but are three seperate venues..) so its a VERY forgiving place for being different and thus you will likely see very.. different.. styles of people.. :D
 
And if you do happen to see a man wearing a thong and wearing womens clothes dont be alarmed. Thats just Leslie and all the locals know and love him. Feel free to throw stuff at the guys on the corner preaching to drunk college kids though. I know I always did.
 
haha.. good ol' Leslie is still kickin' it on 6th street..

He's a cult icon of the streets, really. He has more free beer and photos with fine women than anyone I have ever met..
 
Thanks for the advice thus far guys.

I kind of figured that Lubbock was a rural area, especially in comparison of some of the bigger cities like Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. I figure the university is really large, so it shouldn't be too hard to find some social life around.

In regards to the roads, I'm not all that concerned. I'm sure it can't be worse than our potholes thanks to the road salt every winter in Detroit.

Yeah, Austin seems like a great city. I actually have a buddy down there, so I'll probably head out that way. Just not too keen on meeting up with that hippie thong guy. I'm inclined to visit all the big cities, perhaps even throw in Alburqurque (sp) in the mix as I'm already out west of the state.

cuda06- Noticed you're up in Amarillo. We'll have to meet up sometime. Any other CEG'ers in that region? Maybe we can get a small group and grab a few beers or something sometime.

Anyways, I'm anticipating the move. Not really looking forward to the drive though. Hopefully I can get it done in one day.
 
Stilov is over in NM... and there are a few others scattered in a few hundred mile radius of here...but that is about it.
 
ancientsanskrit said:
I kind of figured that Lubbock was a rural area, especially in comparison of some of the bigger cities like Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. I figure the university is really large, so it shouldn't be too hard to find some social life around.
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Its surrounded by rural areas, farming and prisons but I wouldnt call Lubbock rural by any means. The worst part for me was having to drive out of town to buy alcohol when I visited my girlfriend but it was never a problem finding something to do once you get out of the flatlands and inside the city loop.
 
Well, I arrived yesterday. :cool:

That 1462 miles was far too long. I am not looking forward to doing that long of a drive for a long while. :nonono:

So far my observation is pretty simple, the town is urban, yet you still have that rural flavor to it. Secondly, driving from Oklahoma City to Amarillo to Lubbock, that's a scary ride. I was constantly thinking in the back of my mind, if I break down, I'm royally screwed. Some cities were like 40-50 miles apart with very little life among them. :blackeye:

Another observation, IT'S HOT AS HELL DOWN HERE! I went for a walk this morning around the block in which I'm now living at, and at 9am I was already sweating. I'm sure you locals have all adapted, but I'm friggin' showering in sweat down here!

The only issue I had while driving was a huge pothole/dip I hit near the edge of OK/TX. I'm not sure what's going on with the car, but I'm getting a nasty clunking noise from the driver's side. I'm thinking it's the ball joint and asked some local guys down at O'Reillys (sp) for any suggestions towards repair shops. Subsequently, I went to these recommendations, and all of them looked like dilapidated buildings with old school cars. So I'm heavily leaning away from those places. While grabbing lunch at Taco Bell, I saw a guy running a modded Civic and casually asked him if he knew any good places around town. He gave me a big smirk and was like "Dude, this is the worst town to get any auto-related repair work done. I usually go down to Dallas to get all my work done." :blackeye: Alas, this should be a not so fun aspect.

Yeah, the roads in the city aren't very good at all. This is definitely not helping whatever issue I got going on in the suspension and is probably only exacerbating it. I don't wtf these people were thinking when they paved the road. It's not like you guys suffer from salt eating away your roads in the winter. Who knows. :help:

If anybody knows anyone near Lubbock w/any auto repair suggestions, please let me know.
 
You should have mentioned the trip through Amarillo beforehand. I possibly could have even helped you to figure out whatever that nasty clunk is you developed on the way in. I am pretty paranoid about shops touching my cars so I really have no suggestions for you as to where to take it. If you do make it up here sometime though let me know and we can at least take a look at it. If you feel like it, check out a site called amarilloracers.com. There are quite a few members from lubbock on that board and you may get a better suggestion from one of them. Oh, and BTW, the roads are WAY better up here. There is not much I can claim that Amarillo has a good handle on but smooth roads are pretty common.

One last thing. If you think that the heat is bad around here, you should spend some time around Dallas. At least it cools off a bit at night in this area. The highs may be close to the same but when I wake up down there I am greeted by a 20 degree higher low for the day and 50 times the humidity.
 
cuda06 said:
One last thing. If you think that the heat is bad around here, you should spend some time around Dallas. At least it cools off a bit at night in this area. The highs may be close to the same but when I wake up down there I am greeted by a 20 degree higher low for the day and 50 times the humidity.
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Oh yeah. One of the many reasons you wont find me up in dallas unless its winter and I can be sure all of that concrete isnt going to radiate enough heat to cook me.
 
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