LUBBOCK, Texas — At Tuesday’s special city council meeting, Lubbock-area business owners, county officials, and citizens discussed the downtown master plan, being led by San-Antonio based urban development company, Overland Partners.
The city’s contract with Overland requires that the two parties establish a master plan within a year, which is almost up.
City Councilwoman Latrelle Joy said she wanted today’s participants to address a much bigger elephant in the room.
“If you want to have a downtown that’s vibrant where people live, you’ve got to have walkability, livability, connectivity,” Joy said. “We have too many cars.”
Some of the meeting’s topics included a plan to attract large employers, multi-use developments, possibly relocating the farmers market and convincing more Texas Tech students to live downtown.
“We have a lot of transplants from larger cities like Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin that really want to support a bustling downtown environment,” said Mike Nghiem, a local business owner.
While the council took no formal action, they still encourage increased participation in an effort to bring back an area that some say hasn’t been the same in over 40 years.
