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LUBBOCK — For more than 30 years, Interstate 27 has connected Lubbock in the South Plains to Amarillo in the northern Panhandle. The concrete structure has stood as a key transportation method for residents, businesses and people driving through the area.
And yet, some see it as a lasting reminder of segregation, and a physical barrier that has isolated the east and north sides from the rest of Lubbock. Neighborhoods with majority Black and Hispanic residents are stuffed away, surrounded by industrial zoning and factories releasing emissions into the air. People who call the area home say it’s behind a wall — a signal for people to stop while they can.
“Anything behind a wall has a negative connotation to it,” said Robert Baxter, a Lubbock native. “But we’re humans on the other side of that. Not the boogeyman or just criminals. There are kids, elderly people, families, business owners behind that wall.”
East Lubbock advocates are working on a seemingly never-ending mission — stitching their neighborhoods back into Lubbock’s fabric. As the city grows, communities behind the interstate have been left behind. While the city adds grocery stores to nearly every corner west of I-27, residents on the east side have one supermarket to get fresh food in the area. A few gas stations and corner markets sparsely placed have less fresh, but convenient, options. While crews actively work on repairing streets in the city, East Lubbock roads remain unpaved in some areas. Businesses have closed and not been replaced, leaving empty, decrepit buildings. There isn’t an emergency room in sight for the vulnerable neighborhoods.
The interstate has cemented their conditions, and advocates say it’s a problem that’s nearly impossible to dismantle. Lubbock is not the only city facing this issue. The construction of the national highway infrastructure in the U.S. deepened segregation for communities of color nationwide.
Karen Wolf at the University of Washington’s Infrastructure Planning and Management program, said the nation’s history of highways is not pretty.
“These highways cut through neighborhoods and separated them,” said Wolf, interim academic director for the program. “It was traditionally communities of color or poor neighborhoods, and in some cases, those communities were destroyed.”
Segregation was deeply-seeded in big cities and quaint towns alike — cities like Lubbock that are now booming and seeing a ripple effect from mistakes of the past. Fixing the problem, however, can be a costly and complicated process. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced $3.3 billion in 41 states to reconnect and rebuild communities that were divided by transportation infrastructure. Nearly $235 million was awarded to six projects in Texas.
The projects awarded funds include efforts in Austin to reconnect East Austin to downtown, a project by the Harris County Toll Road Authority to redesign Westpark Tollway and bridge the Alief community back in, a transportation feasibility study in El Paso, a study focusing on equitable solutions to fix disadvantages caused by Interstate 37 to San Antonio’s east side, a project dedicated to walkability and climate-resiliency for two Houston neighborhoods, and construction on pedestrian caps in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The issue remains unresolved in Lubbock, nearly a year after a group of residents filed a federal civil rights complaint against the city for its zoning policies. Residents are still in an uphill battle on their mission toward environmental justice and fair zoning laws. Meanwhile, advocates worry that if city leaders don’t do something about it now, East Lubbock will suffer more as the city grows away from it.
Industrial zoning isolates community
Baxter, who is Black, said living in Lubbock has always been rough for Black and Hispanic residents. When he was growing up, his friends were told by their parents to not go past I-27. As an adult, he advocates for the north and east sides as they are left behind in favor of shiny, new developments on the other side of town.
“Other parts of the city have businesses, nice homes are being built, ones with brick,” Baxter said. “In North and East Lubbock, we have matchbox houses. We want to have brick, too.”
More than 100 years ago, the Lubbock City Council approved an ordinance that forced Black residents to the east side of town. The ordinance said Black people could not own property or live in other areas of the city, unless they were servants, and would be fined every day they were in violation. The council then created an industrial zone around them. The ordinance was repealed in 2006, but in reality, little has changed, residents say. With few good paying jobs and amenities on the east side, it's difficult to live. And few can afford to move. A Texas Tribune analysis of U.S. Census data shows roughly 24% of the population in East Lubbock is impoverished, which is higher than the 19% rate for the city overall.
“These communities are disconnected from economic drivers, the job market, retail, all the benefits coming to our city,” said Joshua Shankles, president of Lubbock Compact, a local advocacy group.
Wolf at the University of Washington said industrial zoning attracts industries that come with big buildings and parking lots, and they cause noise and air pollution, which is a concern for residents in Lubbock. According to the North and East Lubbock Coalition’s complaint, 57% of Lubbock’s Black residents and 38% of its Hispanic residents live within one mile of the industrial zone. By comparison, only 17% of white residents live within the same proximity.
The industrial buildings have contributed to public perception of the community on the east side. Earlier this year, the city held a public meeting to discuss a new solid waste transfer station on the southwest side of town. Residents were against the location, citing health impacts and property values — the same concerns people in East Lubbock have described for years. One resident said to put it on the east side because it’s “pretty trashy” and to “leave the nicer areas alone.”
“Industrial zoning can isolate a community,” Wolf said. “It creates chasms — you can’t walk through it, buses can’t really go there. It disrupts natural travel patterns for communities.”
Wolf said highways are important for faster travel and hauling heavy freight. However, she said the highways were built without recognition to the communities they are in, and sometimes, in spite of them.
“The most important piece now is to make sure that any new segments don't bisect communities or isolate more neighborhoods,” Wolf said.
Advocates and residents alike have been determined to improve East Lubbock for decades, but it has not been an easy task. City leaders, Shankles said, have failed to recognize there is inequity.
“It’s difficult for people to even hear criticism of anything in Lubbock, they think it’s an insult or personal assault,” Shankles said. “It’s more difficult to be receptive to new ideas than to say ‘Let’s just keep doing what we’ve been doing.’”
A resistance to change has been seen over decades as residents and activists alike have advocated for better conditions in East Lubbock. Baxter, who sits on the city’s Urban Renewal Agency and Neighborhood Redevelopment Commission, wants to be an example for future generations to be active in the community. But, he still admits it’s hard talking about a pressing issue with no resolution in sight.
“You get tired trying to show someone it’s a problem,” Baxter said. “It’s been a problem for decades. People before me talked about it, now I am, and it’s like no one is listening.”
False hopes
Natalie Miller was excited to move back to Lubbock in 2013. Her hometown was set for a boom in growth and development. Her excitement waned as she made her way to East Lubbock, where she grew up.
“Conditions here got worse,” Miller said. “Growing up, you don’t understand the history behind the conditions here. You start to ask those questions as an adult.”
Miller joined other residents as they advocated for better conditions, and called for two practices to be added to Lubbock’s development code. The first was amortization, a process that allows the city to rezone property and prevent businesses from practicing operations that are a nuisance or health hazard after zoning laws have changed. Residents want this used to keep industrial practices away from their homes.
The other method is down zoning, which allows the city to change the zoning of an area to a less intensive use, such as going from a commercial land to residential. Residents want this because it would stop new industrial businesses from moving in. For advocates, seeking either option has been a long road full of empty promises.
At the end of 2022, the North and East Lubbock Coalition, a group of residents, began emailing city leaders about the impact of its zoning laws. The city’s development code would be reviewed soon, and they wanted to get ahead of the discussion. When the city council passed the code without significant changes, the group filed a federal civil rights complaint last summer against the city with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The council later organized a committee to study the use of amortization and down zoning, and the extent and negative effect of abandoned industrial properties on nearby residents. The committee included industry executives who managed companies near the neighborhoods in question. None of the residents who petitioned Lubbock for the changes were part of the committee.
“It’s one of those situations where they give us this to say they did something,” Miller said of the committee’s creation.
In January, the committee recommended the city analyze Lubbock’s zoning map to fix areas that need to be rezoned. The committee was against adapting an amortization policy in the city’s code, because the process exists in state law. The committee never answered the question about the negative impact on nearby residents. The city council later accepted the findings without the answer.
“They’re not willing to address the issues of how we got here,” Miller said. “We need to talk about that in order to get to the core of our concerns and fix this.”
Adam Pirtle, a lawyer with Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas representing the coalition, said down zoning is a good first step. However, he said there’s more to do.
“They’re not looking at existing facilities that are operating, that are industrial and causing problems for residents,” Pirtle said. “They’re shying away from that.”
There’s other ways Lubbock could improve the situation, including changing the notification process. Currently, Pirtle said, when an industrial business applies to rezone a property, people who live within 400 yards get notified. Pirtle said emailing residents would be easier for the public to get this information.
Pirtle also pointed to the environmental commission in Dallas. The group advises the city council on environmental matters and has brought residents affected by industrial facilities to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality public hearings.
Federal review ongoing
Residents are now back to square one. According to Pirtle, the HUD’s Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity office in Washington, D.C. is reviewing the North and East Lubbock Coalition's complaint. The coalition is hoping the HUD will make the city remedy the zoning policies for both districts.
In the meantime, Pirtle said, his clients are willing to meet with the city at any time to work toward a solution.
Baxter said changing the zoning in North and East Lubbock, so it’s not surrounded by industrial buildings near I-27, would help them flourish. As is, he said, zoning is a monster that has hindered the community’s ability to bring in new businesses or housing developments.
“No one wants to put up a restaurant or a set of brick condos near a toxic release site,” Baxter said.
Baxter also said more members of the community need to get involved, including being placed on city boards that review zoning requests.
Miller will continue showing up to meetings and pushing for the city to change. What they have right now — a few Dollar General-type stores, unpaved roads, and no pharmacies — leaves Miller frustrated.
“It makes me feel as if we are neglected,” Miller said. “Just as we have been over the last 80 to 100 years here.”
Wolf said reconnecting communities that were separated by infrastructure is possible — albeit, expensive. City leaders also have to be willing to learn from past mistakes, and work with the people who are directly affected.
“It needs to be done with meaningful involvement from the community members from the very beginning,” Wolf said. “You have to work with them, you have to listen to them, and you have to understand what’s important to them.”
In an email from a spokesperson, City Manager Jarrett Atkinson said he does not believe I-27 has had an impact on zoning laws. Mayor Mark McBrayer declined to be interviewed by the Tribune for this story. The HUD is expected to have an answer to the complaint this year.
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Correction, : A previous version of this article incorrectly reported there are no health care clinics in East Lubbock. There is one.