I give you Lubbock, Texas... and I apologize for it

[Jeeper]

Disclaimer: The viewer of this thread assumes all risk of injury to his/her eyes. The architecture of Lubbock, Texas has been known to decrease eyesight and make some viewers queezy. I acknowledge that Lubbock has some of the nicest people to be found in Texas, and a few nice areas of town, but please, for the sake of any future tourists, just demolish your entire downtown and start all over.

I tried to put as much lipstick as I could on this pig, so try to enjoy.



























































































































Thanks for looking!

[i_am_hydrogen]

No need to be such an apologist. Great shots.

[FlyersFan118]

your thread title's hilarious.

way cool pictures. not the prettiest place, but man do you pictures make up for it.

[mhays]

Gotta be honest. Nice pictures, and the city looks horrible! I was about to compliment Lubbock on having at least one decent looking tall building, but later it appears to be deserted. Every other tall building is hideous. And the kiss of death is when a law firm takes a quarter block of prime retail space, a personal injury firm no less. On the bright side, a couple of the occupied buildings looked nice, and there were several trees and what looked to be a nice park.

[jtk1519]

Ah, Lubbock. It takes a special kind of person to live in Lubbock. The Texas Tech campus is rather nice and improving tremendously, but Lubbock is still prone to the smell of cattle (depending on which way the wind is blowing) and/or dust storms. As Mike Leach would say though, where else can you see it rain mud?

[BnaBreaker]

Yikes. Thanks for the photo thread of a rarely seen city. I now know though why it is so rarely seen by outsider eyes. lol

[MobyLL]

Jeeper -- Very nice job. Photos are great... really took some creativity.
In fairness to Lubbock though, I don't think it ever recovered (at least downtown) from the major tornado that hit it in May 1970.

I grew up in Clovis, New Mexico which is 100 miles west of Lubbock. Time and perspective changes a lot of things... I remember how going to Lubbock felt like going to the big city -- I have since lived in many places, including NYC, the SF bay area and Philly. Call me crazy, but somehow Lubbock doesn't seem like the big city anymore.

Also, Jeeper, I saw some photos of Amarillo (i think by you), love to see more. Also, if you are ever passing through Clovis please take a few pics... it's been 13 years since I was last there.

For those not familiar with Clovis, it was once infamously described in Texas Monthly thusly : "Clovis looks and smells like the bad side of Lubbock". Now from seeing these photos of Lubbock, you can only imagine what wonder awaits your eyes when you first see Clovis New Mexico -- "The Cattle Capital of the Southwest".

For anyone to understand Lubbock, I think they have to understand what happened to the city in May 1970. If you compare the new vs. old photos, you will notice there has been virtually no high rise construction in the last 37 years. The following photos and info is from this website (I hope I am not violating any SSP posting rules here):

http://www.lubbockonline.com/lubbock...do/index.shtml

May 12, 1970: Tornado Leaves Death, Rubble
A massive tornado ripped through the heart of downtown Lubbock late Monday night - leaving death, destruction in the millions, and a city badly crippled. Unofficial estimates placed the dead at 2 a.m. today as high as 20, with more than 200 hurt, at least 14 of those were hospitalized.

I believe these first 4 photos were taken by the Lubbock Avalanche Journal (local newspaper).








These last two are attributed to "spotted"

[mello]

Wow I would rather live in a Favela in Rio, atleast you get a nice ocean view! Nah just kiddin, well good ole Lubber must have a serious methamphetamine problem. I pity the people that have to live in such a drab place.

Could always be worse though, I shudder whenever I drive through Gila Bend Arizona, yikes a desert town just dwindling away.

[mello]

double postage bra

[Comrade]

Great photos, but wow that's an ugly town.

Why no shots of Texas Tech? I mean that campus has to be at least decent, right?

[Tom Servo]

জাপানের প্রচলি

[jtk1519]

For a metro area with about a quarter-million people, Lubbock does feel much smaller than it really is. Waco's only a little smaller, but it feels so much bigger to me.

Lubbock is also kinda dry which seems very strange for a city that size with such a large state university. You have to go outside the city limits to find a liquor store. Ironic because Tech students are some of the heaviest drinkers I know.

[olga]

You are excused, since the photos were great!

And thanks to MobyLL for posting those old fascinating pics.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Ewww. Awesomely funny intro though. Nice job with the lipstick too.

[city dweller]

but please, for the sake of any future tourists, just demolish your entire downtown and start all over.

Haha.

Wait...no...yes, this is without a doubt the most savage thing I have ever seen - I blame all the ills of the world on it.

[KevinFromTexas]

Cool. Thanks for the photo tour. I haven't been there since 1999 and yeah, there's not a whole lot to see. Granted I was there early in the morning 2 days after Christmas, but the place was very sleepy. Lubbock does have a few claims to fame, it is the hometown of Buddy Holly. I have a cousin who lives outside of Lubbock in Levelland, yes "levelland". As the name suggests, the place is incredibly flat. I saw my first tumbleweed there also. My great-grandfather moved to Lubbock in 1937 from Tennessee. He had a rare skin condition and Lubbock was one of the only places that could treat it. My grandmother later moved north of Austin and then later to Austin. She's always prefered living in bigger cities, she also lived in Dallas for a while. Anyway, I believe my great-grandfather is buried there. Not sure about that, I'll have to ask my mom.

Thanks again for the tour. Lipstick on a pig.

[Ardent]

Great pics.

[rockyi]

I checked out some of the comments before I saw the photos and expected to see a dump. I see a gritty city with lots of potential, not as bad as some of you make it out to be. Some of those newer buildings are pretty blah, though. Maybe a few pedestrians would make the place look a little less desolate.
I would love to see that empty old U-shaped building shown to be renovated.

[PhillyRising]

It is what is it...a small city. I like the fact they have the brick streets!

[Austinlee]

Haha! Funny forward you wrote... I can see there is not too much excitement to be found. But it is interesting to see none the less. Nice work.