Lubbock Trumps Austin?
West Texas writer slams Austin as pretty much the worst city ever
Austin may be king of the 'best of' lists, but we can't please 'em all. That's apparent in a new ranking of the Big 12 cities from the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal. The list comes from longtime Lubbock sports writer Don Williams, who ranks Austin dead last.
Austin has a reputation as a great college town, but Williams ain't impressed: "Traffic's hell. Parking's impossible. Humidity's oppressive. Panhandlers are pushy. (Unsolicited windshield wash anybody?) New-era hippies and liberals flourish. The worst city in the Big 12, hands down."
In an accompanying video, Williams expounds on what's so terrible about Austin.
"Traffic's hell. Parking's impossible. Humidity's oppressive," says Lubbock sports writer Don Williams.
"What's generally regarded as one of the great college football cities in America is actually the worst college town in the Big 12," he says.
"I know they have good barbecue and I know they have great live music, but that to me does not offset that you have terrible traffic, you can't get anywhere, the parking is — I still can't find a parking spot in Austin, if I do I gotta to pay for it at one of these meters."
We have to admit that Williams may have a few valid points. Traffic's hell? Agreed. Parking's impossible? Guilty. New-era hippies? We'll give him that one, too. But does that qualify us as the worst city on a list that includes Lawrence, Kansas and Ames, Iowa?
Some folks from the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal's sports desk know what's up. "Austin is great — it deserves to be at the top of this list," Bronx native Phil Terrigno says in the video. Terrigno, who describes our food scene as "on point," likens the Capital City to a "new Brooklyn."
Unsurprisingly, Lubbock claims the No. 1 spot on Williams' list. He has, after all, been covering Texas Tech football since 1986.
"[Lubbock is] not too big, not too small, which sets it apart from nearly every other city in the Big 12. Plenty of things to do and, with a street system that makes sense, it's easy to go where you want to go. Too far from everywhere, outsiders say. But with a quarter-million people, who needs to go anywhere else?"
