Lubbock continues to grow and expand, but it’s doing it in a way that feels a little…off. The city’s population is growing at about 1% a year. Meanwhile, it feels like chicken strip places are growing at about 10% a year. That second number is completely made up—but you know exactly what I mean.
Growth Outside the Loop (A Love/Hate Thing)
I’m not anti-growth, and I’m definitely not anti–new places to eat. I love all of that. I just wish more of it stayed inside the Loop. Instead, we keep stretching farther and farther out, and it starts to raise some long-term questions.
Two big ones:
- Are we neglecting what we already have?
- Are we making things harder to get to than they need to be?
Why the Inside of the Loop Still Matters
If you don’t keep investing inside the Loop, eventually you’re not “growing,” you’re just relocating Lubbock one strip mall at a time. Revitalization is always easier before things get rough—not after.
I’ve always said if Lubbock really wanted to get downtown poppin’, they’d drop something big down there. A movie theater. One of those combo food/bowling/arcade places. Something that gives people a reason to go, hang out, and stay awhile…