The other day I was browsing the front page of Reddit and came across a shared article about Lubbock, Texas. I thought, "Hey, I live in Lubbock, Texas. Let's take a look."
The title of the article was "Lubbock is the Most Boring City in the United States."
Now, I've seen this before. I've heard this before, too. Most Lubbockians have.
"Oh, you live in Lubbock? That sucks. I heard there's nothing to do there."
Lubbockians are used to hearing this about their city, but is it true? Is Lubbock really the most boring city in the United States? My answer wont match up with say, a sorority girl's answer, but I have to imagine it would match up closely with anyone else grounded in reality.
The answer to the question is this: yes, no and kind of.
"Boring" is a subjective term. You can't measure fun just like you can't measure beauty. It's all in the eye of the beholder. However, there were parts of the article that didn't add up for me...
According to Movoto, Lubbock ranks 83rd in the Live-Music Category:
Ok. No. Wrong. Dead wrong. You kidding me? Walk into any bar in Lubbock on any given night and chances are you'll find someone absolutely shredding on guitar. I realize we're not in the Buddy Holly days anymore, but c'mon.
How often do we get a top-10 country star selling out the City Bank Auditorium? If this doesn't do it for you, head on down to the Depot District and you won't have a hard time finding something that does.
This is a ludicrous ranking, and it should not be taken seriously. Not to mention, it's a lot cheaper to see a big music star in Lubbock than it is in say, Dallas.
According to Movoto, Lubbock ranks dead-last among cities with over 100,000 people in the non-fast-food category:
Uhh... What? Wild Burger? Blue Sky Burger? Twisted Root Burger? Jazz Cajun? Orlando's Italian? West Crust Pizza? The Shack BBQ? Get out of here.
Lubbock has outstanding non-fast-food options. It's actually one of the only areas where I'd say Lubbock belongs near the top of the chart, yet we rank dead-last.
Maybe, just maybe, Lubbockians like "boring."
Ever think of that? Cause I have. Every day I see people who have spent the entirety of their long lives out here. There's a reason they never leave.
Yes, Lubbock is by and large a boring place to be compared to bigger cities like New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, etc., but that doesn't make it a bad place to be.
People are nicer out here, whether you want to believe that or not. There's a real sense of community in Lubbock that you won't find in cities of similar size.
I can't say it's an exciting, vibrant place to be because it's not. It's simple. Life is simple and straight-forward when you live in Lubbock.
People in Lubbock make their own fun and despite being in West Texas, there are a lot of sharp, well-educated, accredited people out here. There's something to learn and something to gain by living in Lubbock, even if it's just for a couple of years.
