2008 Woodie Awards
The master plan: City officials begin planning for additional 12,000 students by 2020
Matt McGowan
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: News
In terms of overall population, he said, 12,000 students won't significantly impact Lubbock on a large scale. There is plenty of space into which new students can move. Housing in the city is plentiful and grows more so each year.
In 2004, according to an economic-indicator study compiled by the planning department, 2,082 new apartments were built in the city, nearly a 100 percent increase from the 1,091 new apartments built in 2003, and a 467 percent increase from the 445 new apartments built in 2002.
"The natural growth of the community is going to far exceed that growth of 12,000, as well as any new industries located here, so that would just be an added bonus of the number of bodies who are bringing mommy-and-daddy's money," Henson said.
Dave Buckberry, a demographer within the city's planning department, said Lubbock presently is experiencing a growth rate of approximately .8 percent, which is indicative of a healthy city.
Once students start arriving en masse, however, that growth rate will rise each year, possibly reaching rates as high as 1.5 percent, he said. At that 1.5-percent growth rate, he said, Lubbock's population will double in approximately 50 years.
"There would be some things that would get a little out of whack," said Buckberry. "By and large, Lubbock is a city that has the capacity to handle that growth because we don't have any environmental constraint. We have plenty of land."
Reaching 40,000 students by 2020 is a tall order, he said, because the university has not seen a boost in enrollment on that scale since Congress enacted the GI Bill after World War II.
Regardless, Buckberry said he wholeheartedly supports the university's goals, even if they are unrealistic.
"In a 12-year time period, that's quite a bit of growth out there," he said. "You're talking about, essentially, increasing it by a third in 12 years, so that's where I have a question in terms of how realistic it is."
In 2004, according to an economic-indicator study compiled by the planning department, 2,082 new apartments were built in the city, nearly a 100 percent increase from the 1,091 new apartments built in 2003, and a 467 percent increase from the 445 new apartments built in 2002.
"The natural growth of the community is going to far exceed that growth of 12,000, as well as any new industries located here, so that would just be an added bonus of the number of bodies who are bringing mommy-and-daddy's money," Henson said.
Dave Buckberry, a demographer within the city's planning department, said Lubbock presently is experiencing a growth rate of approximately .8 percent, which is indicative of a healthy city.
Once students start arriving en masse, however, that growth rate will rise each year, possibly reaching rates as high as 1.5 percent, he said. At that 1.5-percent growth rate, he said, Lubbock's population will double in approximately 50 years.
"There would be some things that would get a little out of whack," said Buckberry. "By and large, Lubbock is a city that has the capacity to handle that growth because we don't have any environmental constraint. We have plenty of land."
Reaching 40,000 students by 2020 is a tall order, he said, because the university has not seen a boost in enrollment on that scale since Congress enacted the GI Bill after World War II.
Regardless, Buckberry said he wholeheartedly supports the university's goals, even if they are unrealistic.
"In a 12-year time period, that's quite a bit of growth out there," he said. "You're talking about, essentially, increasing it by a third in 12 years, so that's where I have a question in terms of how realistic it is."
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Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 6
MP
posted 11/16/07 @ 3:37 AM CST
Excellent thorough and lengthy article here. Great research. I wonder if any of this growth will benefit the blighted north and east parts of the city. (Continued…)
Zeb
posted 11/16/07 @ 8:49 AM CST
There are a lot of people who doubt this is possible, but if we only increase enrollment by 1,000 students a year and also retain the current ones, then there will no problem in reaching the goal by 2020. (Continued…)
Fred
posted 11/16/07 @ 8:53 AM CST
Mayor Miller has shown once again that he does not have a clue. Tech is not capable of handling 40,000 students unless major changes start to happen. But, as I commented after the first part of this propaganda series, Tech has yet to announce any specific ways to handle an influx of students. (Continued…)
ROBERT WILLIAMS
posted 11/16/07 @ 10:33 AM CST
I was a student at Tech in the 1960s when the enrollment encreased from about 9,000 students to over 14,000 in a period of five or six years. This 5,000 student increase was all due to the influx of the baby boom generation into college. (Continued…)
George Gant
posted 11/16/07 @ 2:24 PM CST
The City of Lubbock is preparing for the growth of Texas Tech's student body? Really!
Lubbock can't even handle the basic needs of its citizens today, from water to trash collection to paving the streets and alleys. (Continued…)
Jef
posted 11/17/07 @ 2:20 PM CST
I think this is great. As an alumnus ( '92 ) I was excited that we saved the old dairy barn. To see new buildings popping up is exciting. What comes with growth in students is construction, jobs and planning. (Continued…)
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