Lubbock Named No. 1 City in U.S. to Be a Driver
A recent Wallet Hub poll based on the 100 most populated cities in the country lists Lubbock as the no. 1 city as far as being a driver is concerned.
Some contributing factors to the ranking included cost of fuel, road maintenance and overall safety.
Here's how Wallet Hub says they did it:
In order to identify the best and worst cities for drivers, WalletHub compared the 100 most populated U.S. cities across four key dimensions: 1) Costs, 2) Traffic & Road Conditions, 3) Safety and 4) Driver & Car Wellness. We then compiled a list of 21 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Data for metrics marked with an asterisk (*) were available only at the state level. Please also note that, for our sample, “city” refers to city proper and excludes surrounding metro areas.
Now, I can't say I'm surprised. I just got through moving from the area of 4th and Slide to 82nd and Indiana. To my surprise, the two guys who assisted in the heavy lifting actually said "Wow, you are really moving a long distance...!" Yes, they were serious.
I guess longtime Lubbock residents have become spoiled with the fact that it takes less than 15 minutes to get virtually anywhere in town. So when you get toward the top end of those 15 minutes, you are really going a long distance.
I've spent some time vacationing and living in much larger cities. Travel south to San Antonio or east to 'The Big D' and good luck going anywhere in town without budgeting at least 30 minutes to get there. In many cases, an hour of travel time isn't completely uncommon simply to get across town.
Now if Lubbock would just designate bike lanes and sidewalks on all major side streets and put an official ban on using the cell phone while driving, we'd really be on to something!
Oh, and in case you were wondering: New York City came in at the bottom of the list at no. 100. Shocker, I know.