cee 7391 - capstone project - presentation - the woodlands retrospective to its sustainable future -...

Retrospective and Analysis on The Woodlands

CEE 7391 – Capstone ProjectThe Woodlands Retrospective to its Sustainable Future

By: John A. LeosFor: Ms. Betsy del Monte and Ms. Jessie Zarazaga

August 3, 2015

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Chapter 01 – Introduction in to what The Woodlands is as a unique development and how it came to fruition.

Chapter 02 – Define the initial vision and what made The Woodlands in to a unique alternative to suburbs at the time.

Chapter 03 – Review and process key data collected for this Capstone Project.

Chapter 04 – Show constraints with four main topics, along with potential solutions for sustainable results.

Chapter 05 – Conclusion and closing remarks.

Resources – Final appendix.

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Chapter 01

In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, planners, designers, and developers were trying to reshape our suburban landscape by creating new communities that differed from typical suburbs at the time. These new communities would utilize a significant amount of innovation, environmental preservation, and master planning. One of these new communities to come out of this time period is The Woodlands in Texas.

Located approximately 30 miles North of Houston, this 28,000 acre community was developed by businessman George Mitchell. Concerned with suburban sprawl and inner city decay, Mitchell aspired to develop The Woodlands in a more economically and environmentally balanced manner. The land lies in the Gulf Coast Plain, making it flat, near sea level, and with a high clay content soil. Prior to Mitchell’s development, the land was forested and owned by a lumber mill. The forest consisted of a mix of hardwoods and softwoods, although dominated by various pine species.

Mitchell’s early hopes with the purchase of this land were to create an alternative to the suburban sprawl he witnessed in Houston. While a large portion of the funds for the project came from Mitchell’s company, as well as his own private fortune, another large portion of the funds came from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), under Title VII (the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970).

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One of the key players, if not the key player in the planning process of The Woodlands was Ian McHarg. McHarg looked at The Woodlands as an opportunity to apply his theory of ecological determinism by allowing the ecology of the land to determine what development could and should take place. Along these basic lines, an in-depth study of the land took place, and it was decided that the two major environmental/ecological functions that needed to be protected were the hydrologic system and the native woodlands.

Four areas are to be looked at for current status and improvements are: Affordable Housing, Transportation Options, Diversity Challenges, and Environmental Impacts from Rapid Growth. A look at these areas will tell where they are today, while looking at potential solutions that may offer improvements as the community will look to continue along the initial vision from Mitchell and McHarg.

Stakeholders: Citizens of The Woodlands, Citizens of Spring, Citizen of Tomball, Citizens of Conroe, Citizens of Houston, Developers, Planners, Local Government, National Government (HUD), Mass Transit Users, New Citizens Looking to Potentially Move to The Woodlands, and National New Developments looking to Learn from The Woodlands.

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The following facts and figures provide a quick snapshot of The Woodlands:

• Currently #03 best-selling master-planned community in Texas and #8 in the US.

• 28,000 acres total; 5,000 acres devoted to commercial development.• Over 100 major companies.• 14 companies occupy 100,000 SF or more.• $15.7 billion invested by all parties to date.• 28% (8,000 acres) dedicated to green space at build-out.• 1,901 employers and 54,504 employees.• 43,950 households in nine distinct residential villages.• Current population: 107,769.• Projected population (2018): 121,010.• Projected population (Ultimate): 130,800.• Median household income: $105,151.• Roads: 480 miles.• Pathways: 202 miles.• Open spaces: 3,600 acres.• Forest preserve: 1,780 acres.

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Chapter 02

After watching post-war suburbs sprawl across the landscape during the 1960’s, a handful of developers, architects, and planners argued that Americans could do better. New communities, they claimed could be built in harmony with nature and be open to people of all races and religions. Jobs would be close to homes and all buildings would be well designed. Even federal policy makers became interested and in 1970 Congress passed the HUD Title VII Urban Growth and New Community Development Act, which guaranteed up to $50 million in support if a developer met specific social and environmental goals. The terms of the New Community Act of 1970 stipulated that loans for development were guaranteed in exchange for provision of 15% low-income or assisted housing.

Thirteen communities were approved for loan guarantees by the federal government under the Title VII program, plus an additional three funded by a related New York State program. One of these communities was The Woodlands that moved forward with ambitious social and environmental goals. Twelve of the thirteen communities defaulted on their loans and went bankrupt, with the lone exception being The Woodlands.

In 1964, Mitchell purchase 50,000 acres of land north of Houston, with 2,800 acres becoming the seed of what became The Woodlands. Most Title VII new communities were in the 5,000 to 8,000 acre range. Mitchell’s expansive acreage signaled the scope of his vision as his community was more than five times the typical size. Mitchell looked to the natural sciences and in particular ecology as it was being translated into environmental planning and landscape architecture in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

Once McHarg was on board, he immediately suggested using the natural drainage system of The Woodlands site to structure development. This would, he noted, help reduce the prospects for flood damage. Mitchell quickly saw the value of this approach as it allowed the community to attain the $50 million from HUD, while saving $14 million alone on a storm drainage system in the first phase.

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An ecological inventory by McHarg for The Woodlands identified flooding, storm drainage, and groundwater recharge as overriding issues. Mitchell wanted to build The Woodlands in the midst of a pine and oak forest, but the site’s soil and groundwater conditions were such that a conventional drainage system would have lowered the water table and destroyed the forest. It would have also caused flooding downstream and led to ground subsidence beneath Houston. These regional effects, in particular, would not have been identified with a less comprehensive approach to studying the site. The proposed natural drainage system would enhance groundwater recharge, abate flooding, protect water quality, and sustain the forest. This innovative solution emerged from the situation of practice – the environmental challenges posed by the site, the pragmatic demands imposed by the client, and the values, theories, and methods of landscape architects.

Money and ecology were the bedrock of the first development that started in 1972 at Grogan’s Mill, which opened in 1974. As the 1970’s continued, the next phases followed and the other Title VII communities failed one by one. The group worked through several disagreements with HUD and also survived the oil embargo that played a key role in sagging Houston’s real estate market. In 1983, the Title VII status of The Woodlands ended, directly affecting the amount of affordable housing in the new community.

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The plan for The Woodlands provided the opportunity to link analysis and practice, planning and design, and regional through local scales: to work from an ecological inventory of the overall site, to a plan for the new town for an estimated 130,000 people, to devising strategies for its implementation in design. The Woodlands exemplifies McHarg’s idea that planning and design are tools of human evolution. Design recommendations linking goals and implementation took the form of adaptive strategies. Ultimately, McHarg and his partners were not chosen to produce the ecological design of individual villages within The Woodlands.

The Woodlands aspired to provide an alternative to existing urban and suburban conditions. But despite the expenditure of so much talent, imagination, and investment, the question remains as to whether The Woodlands is appreciably different from other suburbs or its rival new towns. The Woodlands is unincorporated, and although currently it is more dependent on the services of Montgomery County and the more proximate city center of Conroe, it nevertheless lies within Houston’s statutory extraterritorial jurisdiction. But even if the tax base of The Woodlands represents is ultimately retrievable, the drain of employment, cultural, and housing possibilities it encourages is less than healthy for the vitality of the urban core.

The ethic in The Woodlands is to live in the forest, and thus everything in The Woodlands is set back and hidden by trees. The architectural guidelines encourage saving as many trees on a lot as possible and then planting indigenous trees and undergrowth wherever needed. There were no front lawns in the earliest subdivisions, which for the suburbs was revolutionary. About 25% of the land in The Woodlands has been set aside for public space for parks and recreation. This is considerable more than any of its competitors can boast, and the green spaces, which include 130 forested parks and six golf courses, are easily accessible and often quite impressively unspoiled.

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Chapter 03

Over the course of this project, it was determined that discussions and interviews with some experts in development in Houston and The Woodlands were needed to help mold this project while adding vital perspective to it. Over the course of collecting data, discussions took place with the following experts:

• Mike Mair, EVP – Skanska Commercial Development: Senior leader of Skanska’s regional development office with current developments in the Energy Corridor, downtown Houston, and upcoming in Spring.

• Dan Leverett, EVP, Managing Director – PM Realty Group: Senior leader responsible for leading his team in development activities while seeking new business opportunities. As an industry leader, was also responsible for commercial operations of The Woodlands Development Company heading up the company’s urban mixed-use, office, retail, hotel, and multi-family projects.

• Robert Heineman, VP – The Woodlands Development Company: One of the true major forces in creating the vision for The Woodlands Community. Has worked on planning in The Woodlands since 1971 and been a resident for over 43 years.

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Discussions with Mike Mair and Dan Leverett on 7/14/15:

When the concept of this project came up, Mike was approach based on his development knowledge in Houston and nationally. From initial discussions, he was able to help formulate a game plan to collect key data. This led to his suggestion to meet with Dan to further develop the core of this project. The following are key highlights from 7/14/15.

• Social and environmental goals were paramount to Mitchell’s initial vision. Socially, the desire to make The Woodlands a community and not just a house you live in. Environmentally, use of the natural ecology for drainage, as well as its aesthetics was key, along with the preservation of nature. This stated with the first village at Grogan’s Mill and continues today. Although you can see a slight taper on some of these topics when Mitchell sold in 1998, newer ideas continue to be formulated.

• From the initial HUD Act, as well as Mitchell’s vision, the need for social programs helped to develop Interfaith in The Woodlands that is still fully operational today. Interfaith is a non-profit social service agency providing numerous programs and services to meet the needs of The Woodlands and the surrounding areas. True to its mission, Interfaith works with member congregations, corporations, local businesses, individuals, non-profits, and organizations acting as a community resource and while building a more loving and caring community.

• Confirmed during discussion was the five phases of development for The Woodlands:

o Initial ideas from 1960’s to 1970’s.o Ecological design from 1970 to 1974.o HUD Title VII in operation from 1975 to 1983.o Community building from 1983 to 1997.o Post-Mitchell growth since 1997.

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Discussions with Mike Mair and Dan Leverett on 7/14/15 (Continued):

• Voting participation is typically higher in Master Planned communities and this is no different with The Woodlands. Citizens have played a vital role in determining their course.

• Although The Woodlands continues to grow and reach its max population, it appears to be as much or more sustainable than ever. They operate by the simple creed of Live-Learn-Work-Play. This community has something for everyone and reduces the need to leave for services and amenities.

• In 1983, the HUD Title VII ended and had an impact on affordable housing options. Through today, Section 42 housing still remains to offer options, along with older original homes being available at affordable prices. Assisted living and senior housing also remains.

• Diversity was an important concept to Mitchell’s original plan. Currently, The Woodlands is close to 90% white. As the density and new employers move in, there are possibilities for The Woodlands to become more ethnically diverse.

• In recent history, deals could not be accomplished to bring a light rail from Houston to The Woodlands, or to the 610 Loop and major business centers. This was due in part to political decisions, as well as funding and construction challenges.

• The Woodlands Development Company, along with the Township continues today to develop new plans for growth and improvements.

• Market impacts have played some roles in what gets developed as business owners still need to balance their growth plans with cost effective solutions. The Woodlands has deed restrictions and zoning requirements, unlike Houston that help protect the design intent of the Township. Continue to look for ways to potentially tie in to the Houston Metro system. One key challenge is that The Woodlands is in Montgomery County and Metro is based in Harris County.

• The Woodlands continues to maintain a road design that allows for no houses on main arteries and creates an environment where more interaction can take place outside and within the neighborhood.

• In the near future and as products become more affordable, look for residents and business owners to want more options on renewable energy and generating on-site energy.

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Discussions with Robert Heineman on 7/30/15:

After meeting with Mike and Dan, it was determined that additional perspective would be helpful from a long time resident. Dan referred the project to Robert who not only is a long-time resident, but in charge of planning for many years in The Woodlands. The following are key highlights from our 7/30/15 discussion.

• Robert has lived in The Woodlands for over 43 years while serving its planning needs during that tenure. He holds degrees inArchitecture as well as Planning and views The Woodlands as a true community that is very close to the initial vision that Mitchell laid out.

• By remaining true to The Woodlands’ initial vision, the Township has strove to: maintain the forested image by preserving 28% of the lands (mostly along major roadways), limited the maximum percentage of site covered by building and paving, and built detention reservoirs to accommodate developed flow in to streams (still no major storm sewer systems).

• Live-Work-Learn-Play vision has defined the community and helped to develop a significant job base. This mentality also helps to reduce sprawl and transportation issues from daily needs.

• Initial developments by most developers would have focused on I-45 with major retail taking place where current Anadarko offices sit. The Woodlands didn’t develop this way and this in part allowed it to create a true Town Center for the community and not clutter along I-45.

• More people commute in to The Woodlands than leave, approximately 25% more.• Most average travel is five miles by citizens. Reduced vehicle miles traveled is one key component on how The Woodlands

reduces sprawl and transportation issues.• Services are grouped together in nodes within the villages to reduce trips while also reducing the needs to increase roads. • Major roads follow ridgelines of topography (on highest points), so they become the last thing to flood and help reduce

demand on drainage processes.• The curved streets allow you to look down a street to experience nature as you drive. This adds to the ambience of the

community.• Village roads are curved and narrower while keeping traffic away from the front of houses on main entries. This increases

safety within the neighborhood and allow for everyone to get out and play more.• The Dallas public transportation system is set-up to serve the inner city and outlying areas with local and express trips.• In Houston, the Metro, doesn’t embrace the suburbs like Dallas does. It is not currently set-up to serve the new Exxon office or

The Woodlands. This is due in part to: Metro has too many stops, its set-up to travel on-grade (vs. above or under), and northern routes are not in their immediate plans. This is also in part to political and funding issues.

• Currently The Woodlands has three main Park & Ride operations: Research Forest, Sterling Ridge, and Sawdust. They are studying to look at possibly expanding in to the Galleria area and also buying their own buses for these types of trips.

• One current study by The Woodlands is what to do when Park & Ride buses come back from their destination to The Woodlands empty? Can they work something out to bring people back in to the community on the way back, a reverse commute? Currently studying and looking for possibilities to see if this works at the new Exxon offices, which will have over 10,000 employees.

• The Woodlands Township is running trolleys in the community. Currently performing studies to see demand at Town Center and Villages and may look to increase these public transportation options.

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Discussions with Robert Heineman on 7/30/15 (Continued);

• A potential high speed rail system from Houston to Dallas may eventually be in the works. One option has it with a potential stop in The Woodlands area at Exxon offices. This would provide the connection to Houston, but at this time, there appears to not be enough R.O.W. on I-45 to install. Current options favor the stops going to 290 and Grand Parkway.

• At this time, it doesn’t appear that Metro would come out to The Woodlands as the sheer number of stops and traffic created by these buses at graded make this an inefficient option. Focusing on local transportation solutions at the four main business centers (Downtown, Medical Center, Galleria, and Energy Corridor) may be a better solution to have a more positive impact on sprawl in the Houston metro area.

• Diversity as stated before was a sincere desire for Mitchell’s vision of The Woodlands. This can be looks at two ways – diversity in product and in ethnicity.

• Diversity in product has been very strong in The Woodlands. They have made strong efforts to offer diversity in product as wellas price within each village. Very expensive homes are scattered through each village, but remain minimal.

• By virtue of building new products (homes), prices are naturally driven upwards. This has an impact on new residents wantingto move in, as economics now play a major role. This also impacts to some degree the ability to increase ethnic diversity.

• The Woodlands spends more on amenities, therefor leading to additional planning and layout needed for more roads. The result is that houses and lots have to sell for more, but it has become a market norm as people are buying in to a community,not just a house.

• The Woodlands does now have many third generations in the community. So, you can now start to buy a less expensive house and then eventually move in to an upgraded house as others transition out. This process has helped to attract buyers of all ages.

• For ethnic diversity, one challenge of living in a diverse metro area such as Houston is the fact that many groups desire to live close together and not venture out separately.

• However, the Hispanic community is now starting to thrive in The Woodlands. This has been due in part to an increase in retail, medical, and safety features in the community that appeals to Hispanics for convenience and opportunity. They, along with other minorities are now more willing to pay some type of premium for services and job opportunities.

• Part of the diversity issue is there is an aging generation, along with a younger generation and limited in-between. The older generation is tied to employment in The Woodlands and are staying where they live till retirement, whether in The Woodlands or outside. The younger generation prefers to live in an uptown urban setting and will do a reverse commute as needed. Thiscontinues to be addressed with living options and one such area for an urban setting is Hughes Landing.

• The urbanization of Town Center was always part of Mitchell’s original vision. More of this is happening later in the development cycle of The Woodlands.

• The majority of new buildings feature progressive designs and are LEED accredited. Currently, there is no big push for net zero, but if prices continue to drop on renewable energy, look for the citizens to start to demand that and builders to start toaccommodate.

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Contemporary planning literature shows considerable convergence around a key set of community design principles to guide planning practice. These principles of efficiency, diversity, walkability, affordability, equity, and environmental responsibility obtain through a range of community design theories, including new urbanism, smart growth, and sustainability. The importance of an attractive, compact, and well-connected public realm that encourages people to walk and engage socially with their neighbors. The Woodlands has realized this importance and attempted to develop common use land practices, mixed uses, mixed housing types, transportation options, quality urban design standards, and strategies for open space conservation.

Amid Houston’s sprawl, The Woodlands is widely viewed as a masterpiece - a meticulously planned community nestled in pine trees that’s part well-kept neighborhoods and part gleaming skyscrapers, with an outdoor performing arts center, a thriving Market Street entertainment area and man-made canals and water taxis. The Woodlands is currently twice as big as Galveston and the residential building boom shows no signs of slowing down, especially with Exxon just recently completing their corporate campus nearby to the south.

Mitchell always wanted a community in harmony with nature that preserved trees, but with new ownership in 1997, there’s been clear-cutting. Mitchell championed a community that would be inclusive and affordable for all economic levels, but The Woodlands prosperity has priced many low-income buyers out of the market. Mitchell thought Houston would one day annex his community, but instead residents struck a deal in 2006 to keep its autonomy for the immediate future.

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The next challenge down the road will be whether The Woodlands incorporates as its own city, or allows Houston to take it over. Under a 2006 agreement, The Woodlands pays Houston a small percentage of its sales tax as a sort of ‘protection money’ to prevent annexation while helping to maintain Houston as a vibrant urban core. This deal also allows The Woodlands to incorporate, starting in 2014, but residents so far have balked at the idea after a consultant reported their property taxes would soar 70%. The Woodlands has until 2057 to incorporate. If it doesn’t, Houston gets another bite at the apple and can gobble it up. One theory is that The Woodlands will take another serious run at becoming a city in about five years after building savings account to cover costs of everything from police to public works. By incorporating, The Woodlands can make laws to control its burgeoning population and other critical challenges of a growing city.

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Retrospective and Analysis on The WoodlandsChapter 04

Throughout history, cities have been places where people gather to exchange goods, ideas, and culture. Americans, however have always been ambivalent about cities, fretting over the noise, congestion, lack of privacy, and social ills that often attend urban growth. The roots of this ambivalence lied deep within the agrarian foundation of the United States and anchor the thinking of such major intellectuals as Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, and Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s not surprising that an alternative – suburban living – would become so wildly popular in the years following World War II. Nearly 75 years ago, Lewis Mumford aptly described the space-gobbling aspect of the American character as the ‘romanticism of the pioneer’. In his view, such overly romantic notions would eventually lead to disequilibrium or even disaster.

Mumford watched American cities boom during the prosperity of the 1920’s and then decline during the Great Depression. In his view, dense urban development patterns at the time were tied too closely to free market development and not to sound social policy. Subsequently, the sprawling American suburbs of the post-World War II era seemed to Mumford to lack any sense of communal focus with their separate residential, commercial, and cultural centers and their emphasis on automobile transportation. In Mumford’s view, without patience or prudence, neither the good of the community nor of humanity would be well served.

Mumford saw the urban experience as an integral component in the development of human culture and the human personality. He consistently argued that the physical design of cities and their economic functions were secondary to their relationship to the natural environment and to the spiritual values of human community.

Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City described precise prescriptions for a new city, down to acreage and expenses. As far as the design goes, Howard wanted to make it as little like the overcrowded London of his day as possible, so public parks and private lawns are everywhere. The roads are incredibly wide, ranging from 120 feet to 420 feet for the Grand Avenue, and they are radial rather than linear. Commercial, industrial, residential, and public uses are clearly differentiated from each other spatially. The overall goal for Howard was to combine the traditional countryside with the traditional town. For too long residents have had to make the unfulfilling choice between living in a culturally isolated rural area or giving up nature to live in a city, but human society and the beauty of nature are meant to be enjoyed together. As he saw it, the two magnets of Town and Country that have in the past pulled people in either direction will, under his concept be synthesized into one Town-Country magnet.

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In Robert Bruegmann’s Sprawl, he examines the assumptions that underpin most people’s strongly held convictions about sprawl. His conclusions are unexpected. To begin with, he finds that urban sprawl is not a recent phenomenon: It has been a feature of city life since the earlies times. The urban rich have always sought the pleasures of living in low-density residential neighborhoods on the outskirts of cities. As long ago as the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century, the Chinese gentry sang the praises of the exurban life, and the rustic villa suburban was a common feature of ancient Rome. He also observes that medieval suburbs – those urbanized areas outside cities’ protective walls – had a variety of uses.

It was not only by sprawling at the edges that cities reduced their densities. Preindustrial cities began life by exhibiting what planners call a steep ‘density gradient’, that is, the population density was extremely high in the center and dropped off rapidly at the edges. Over time, with growing prosperity – the availability of increasingly far-reaching mass transportation – this gradient flattened out. Density at the center reduced while density in the (expanding) suburbs increased. The single most important variable in this common pattern was, as Bruegmann observed, not geography or culture, but the point at which the city reached economic maturity.

What Bruegmann demonstrates is that sprawl is not the anomalous result of American zoning laws, or mortgage interest tax deductions, or cheap gas, or subsidized highway construction, or cultural antipathy towards cities. Nor is it an aberration. He shows that asking whether sprawl is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is the wrong question. Sprawl is and always has been inherent to urbanization. It is driven less by the regulations of legislators, the action of developers, and the theories of city planners, than by the decisions of millions of individuals – Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’. This makes altering it very complicated, indeed.

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Retrospective and Analysis on The WoodlandsAffordable Housing:

One of the challenges of The Woodlands is maintaining affordable housing options long-term and well after the benefits of Title VII. Affordable Housing also has a unique tie to the ethnic diversity challenges that The Woodlands faces today. The physical condition of the new and existing housing stock occupied by low-income Americans ultimately mirrors housing policy, subsidy and development programs, market fluctuations, and many other considerations.

New housing costs are rising in The Woodlands due to market demand for the location, amenities, and natural setting. As new businesses continue to move in to The Woodlands, it figures that new home prices will continue to increase. Another challenge will come when it is built out and there is no more capacity. Premiums to live in The Woodlands and surrounding areas will increase again.

Potential Solution: As new construction continues to sore both residentially and commercially, The Woodlands is quickly running out of land to build on. Based on this and skyrocketing prices for new homes, a potential solution can be to remodel existing facilities and mixed use housing to accommodate lower income residents. Some of the original structures are nearing their life expectancy and rather than demo and build new, they should be rehabilitated to better serve the communities social and low income needs. These remodels should focus on mixed use and multi-family (duplex, apartment, condo, etc.) so that the value of what is created is maximized – lower income opportunities and new areas to entice small and emerging businesses.

Section 42 housing as well as senior assisted living in The Woodlands continues today. Although this dipped a bit in 1997, many are still operational. Interfaith has been serving the community since inception in various social programs and services. There are a multitude of government programs and subsidies from housing. As The Woodlands looks to possibly charter and become a full blown city, this is something that they need to focus on. Working with a long-term organization like Interfaith will help to champion it in the community.

Acknowledging that many senior are nearing retirement age in The Woodlands, but want to stay close by to be with their grandkids, a new Del Webb community will open in 2016 with homes projected to be priced in the $220,000’s. This is half the current median home price, and will offer a reasonably affordable downsize-in-place opportunity in a competitive submarket. Transition for the older generation to smaller houses on the edge of the community will open up opportunities for affordable housing as they put their current homes on the market. Other regions in the state may offer solutions as in the Mueller project in Austin that has garnered acclaim for its environmental sustainability and mixed income home ownership. Outside the state, but nearby, is Willow Bend in Arkansas that develops for attainable and sustainable infill housing.

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Retrospective and Analysis on The WoodlandsTransportation Options:

With The Woodlands, you have transportation challenges to get there and once there. Currently, 25% more people are commuting to The Woodlands than vice versus. Whether The Woodlands’ appeal could end up proving as much a curse as a blessing is a question that will become more relevant as growth and development continues nearby. New housing subdivisions nearby are popping up regularly to the East, West, and South to take advantage of jobs and amenities in and near The Woodlands. Traffic will become an increasing challenge. Already, an expanded FM 1488 could use more expansion. Restaurants and shops will be more crowded, as will parking, and schools.

Connection to the Houston area Metro system is not feasible in the immediate future due to constraints of a system running at grade and with too many stops. With The Woodlands not tied in to Houston, other political and tax challenges will keep this from happening in the near future. Trolleys and water taxis help to move people around within the city. Three park and rides stations help to get people out to major centers within Houston.

Potential Solution: Initial thoughts on solutions were to have the Houston Metro system get as close as possible to The Woodlands to link it back to Houston. One challenge is that Metro is a Harris County based system and The Woodlands is in Montgomery County. With that said, it makes sense to still look at options close by. Right now, the Metro bus system serves downtown well, but it does a poor job of serving employment centers on the edge of the Greater Houston area. One are talked about is an expansion to Springwoods Village which would be in Harris County to serve Exxon’s new offices. This would be a few miles from The Woodlands and offer a link back to the city. However, with the amount of stops and traffic concerns, inefficiency would be a major issue with this proposal. Studies would need to take place to see how this route could run more efficiently, i.e. - less stops, tollway routes, etc.

Light rail coming out to The Woodlands may be a better option, as it would get the vehicle off of grade and elevated or away from traffic. With The Woodlands fast becoming a second Energy Corridor in Houston and more people commuting to it, this might make sense. Taxes would need to increase to make this happen and right now and the citizens on The Woodlands appear to be against that. If this can be made affordable with the load shared between Montgomery and Harris Counties, it may be feasible. The high speed rail to Dallas that could potential tie in to downtown Houston and head North has too many hurdles to be considered an option.

Increasing the Park and Ride system by one to two more locations may be the best immediate investment. Studies continue to go on with this and as Exxon gets ramped up, more analysis needs to take place. With Grand Parkway nearing completion, a connection to the Energy Corridor to the West will be made and a route to that area should be looked at with high potential. The main challenge is trying to figure out what to do with empty buses coming back. If The Woodlands moves forward with purchasing buses, maybe they can be leased out to serve other nearby routes during the day, while they wait to pick-up commuters at the end of the day. This ways they maximize their use and still provide public commuting options.

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Retrospective and Analysis on The WoodlandsDiversity Challenges:

The original vision of Mitchell was a sincere effort to commit to ethnic diversity, yet that has not worked out in The Woodlands. In the early years, the range of housing prices was more inclusive than the later years of development. It is the prices of homes in The Woodlands, rather than overt discrimination that appear to have limited the racial diversity. Mitchell consulted with Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant leaders and formed The Woodlands Religious Community Inc., now called Interfaith.

Diversity in product and pricing in many aspects is alive in The Woodlands, but under current conditions, development with continue to struggle to address the lower 40% of Houston’s housing market. Affordable Housing options will continue to be an issue associated with ethnic diversity until more options open up. Current market driven factors are determining what gets built in The Woodlands and what prices people are willing to pay. An additional challenge is the location of The Woodlands being far North can be restrictive on minorities who like to stay close to other family members. The sheer distance from other cultural centers in Houston is a potential impact hindering diverse growth.

Potential Solution: Market conditions are a huge hurdle to overcome for improved results in Diversity and Affordable Housing. So, it’s imperative to dig deeper to find solutions to diversity challenges. The sheer amount of amenities and job opportunities are positive starting points for The Woodlands to build off of in order to diversify their community. The latest version of Urbanism – what founder Andres Duany calls Agrarian Urbanism – can provide a benefit from a more serious engagement with the phenomenon of culture. Agrarian Urbanism is keen to address problems of urban sustainability by incorporating various forms of food production into basic New Urban fabric. These include, among other things, medium-sized farms (a substitute for a golf course) and community gardens (a substitute for front yards). These two examples highlight an emphasis on food as a societal commitment. As The Woodlands commits to choices like this, diversity can very likely receive a positive uptick from it.

Hispanics are interested in The Woodlands and looking to continue growth in the region. Hispanics prefer high density neighborhoods connected by public transportation, a variety of housing options including units that can house multiple generations that come together as extended families, and houses & house groups organized around shared courtyards and patios. This approach is termed Latino Urbanism. Mixed use and the ability of services to cross over boundaries are also key components. This is just an example of how Urbanism can be looked at as Intercultural Urbanism that is interested not only in humankind’s shared predispositions for certain kinds of landscapes and built forms, but also the novel and hybrid forms.

As generations move out of The Woodlands due to retirement and as development continues, special attention should be spent studying newer forms of Urbanism to discover how they may not only improve diversity, but also add in new sustainable practices to the community as a whole. This is one key aspect of not being a full-fledged city that impacts The Woodlands’ ability to tie social issues together with affordable housing, diversity, and sustainability. It would be a logical move for the Township to study new Urbanism approaches, as well as other successful communities that have gradually diversified in recent times. Studies have shown that racially diverse suburban communities have many attractive features, including relatively strong tax bases, low poverty rates, and strong local economies. The Woodlands has these basic ingredients to build off of and be successful.

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Environmental Impacts from Rapid Growth:

As The Woodlands continues to build out and population increases, environmental concerns will remain due to traffic, storm water impacts, resource use, energy use, and sprawl. The Woodlands has other unique challenges with as much as a third of the Township being people that are visiting for a small period of time to use their amenities. In addition, neighboring communities are rapidly filling up from people who don’t want to pay premiums associated with owning a home in The Woodlands.

At times it appears that The Woodlands is carrying a burden of all the cities that are nearby sharing in their amenities and helping their economy. For the immediate growth of The Woodlands and adjacent areas, that process doesn’t seem likely to slow down.

Potential Solution: First of all, Mitchell and his team did well to design and development their Township. What may have gone a bit unnoticed is how they would continue to interact with neighboring communities that grow as fast due to The Woodlands’ success. More formal effort at this juncture must be spent to properly plan this growth with neighboring cities, the city of Houston, and Harris & Montgomery Counties. Some type of regional board that meets regularly on this topic will help to get the conversation going and understand that all the cities close by The Woodlands are intertwined.

The Woodlands must also continue to push for the community to remain a Live-Learn-Work-Play setting. This means any new development and redevelopment should focus on mixed use that can work to reduce traffic and sprawl. The Woodlands portrays itself as a green city and that can be seen in its natural preserves and LEED buildings. However, more can be done in this arena, such as: remodeling of existing structures for affordable housing & mixed use, emphasis on renewable energy practices, public transportation links to Houston, and continued growth of social programs to encourage diversity.

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Chapter 05

The look at potential solutions is not to say that The Woodlands has drastic issues that will one day lead to its demise. Rather, it’s to provide additional food for thought to improve on core areas of Mitchell’s initial vision while also pushing the boundaries of sustainability. As noted by Lewis Mumford, without patience or prudence, neither the good of the community nor of humanity would be well served. This was offered up by a critic that was not groomed as an urban planner. It offers a lot of warning to a new city like The Woodlands to provide maximum care and forethought when assessing new development and its long-term impacts.

As Ebenezer Howard has noted, bringing Town and Country together like magnets offers the ability to bring the best of both to provide a well thought of place to live. These combinations would remove unnecessary clutter while encouraging cultural and social relationships in a well-planned setting. The Garden City can provide a blue-print for cities like The Woodlands that bring Town and Country together with open parks and well thought out roads. The challenge is to maintain this layout and scenery as the city grows.

Robert Bruegmann demonstrated that sprawl has been around a long time and that you simply cannot ask the question whether sprawl is ‘good’ or ‘bad’. In some key instances, the four main business centers in Houston may actually reduce sprawl and transportation issues as people tend to live close to the business center in which they work. Sprawl is and always will be inherent to urbanization. It is also very complicated to alter. By realizing this fact, the more expertise that The Woodlands can attract and partner with, the better the chances are for success in their challenges. These are not challenges that you want to take on by yourself. A collaborative approach is imperative at this juncture in The Woodlands’ history.

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Suburbia at its heart is the embodiment of compromise. It is a space for solving puzzles involving cost, space and commuting time, of balancing the needs for work and recreations, privacy and community. Over time, The Woodlands has become a more affluent, more exclusive community. The Woodlands began as a dream, and it will create new dreams that will help shape its future.

Nearly a half century of planning practice has demonstrated that no single approach works all the time under all conditions. The Woodlands is definitely thriving as originally envisioned by Mitchell. However, as The Woodlands enters its next 40 years, emphasis should be placed on cultivating the following:

• Ethnic Diversity• New Cultural Connections• Improved Design to push the Boundaries of Sustainability• Increased Affordable Housing Options with Mixed-use and Multi-family

Options • Increased Transportation Options within the Region• Additional Efforts to Cultivate Local Start-up Businesses • Partnerships Regionally and Nationally to create a Collaborative

Approach to Solving Issues

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References• Interviews and Discussions with Mike Mair, Dan Leverett, and Robert Heineman

• http://www.thewoodlands-commercial.com/

• http://www.howardhughes.com/properties/master-planned-communities/the-woodlands.html

• http://www.thewoodlandstx.com/villages/

• http://www.woodlandsdirectory.com/WoodlandsVillages.htm

• http://www.thewoodlands.com/

• http://courses.umass.edu/greenurb/2006/kswann/Introduction.htm

• https://www.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov/

• http://offcite.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2010/03/TheWoodlandsRetrospectAndProspect_Steiner_Cite65.pdf

• http://www.usa.skanska.com/business-units/commercial_development/meet-our-people/our-houston-team/

• http://pmrg.com/media/pdfs/Leverett.Dan_BIOS.pdf

• http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/woodlands/news/article/Robert-Heineman-is-still-crafting-The-Woodlands-5790975.php

• http://woodlandsinterfaith.org/

• http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/doaks-online-publications/environmentalism/env4.pdf

• http://www.rice.edu/~lda/Sprawl_Net/Features/INGEutopia1.html

• http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=laep_facpub

• http://theoryandpractice.planning.dal.ca/_pdf/suburbs/working_papers/grant_10_good%20community%20design.pdf

• http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/29/planned-community-faces-crossroads-at-40/?page=all#

• http://ww2.odu.edu/ao/instadv/quest/CityAsCommunity.html

• http://www.contemporaryurbananthropology.com/pdfs/Mumford,%20What%20is%20a%20City_.pdf

• http://discoveringurbanism.blogspot.com/2009/06/ebenezer-howards-garden-city-concept.html

• http://architectureandurbanism.blogspot.com/2010/10/ebenezer-howard-garden-cities-of-to.html

• http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/architecture/2005/11/suburban_despair.html

• http://www.economist.com/suburbs

• http://www.huduser.org/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol16num2/Cityscape_Jul14.pdf

• http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Del-Webb-community-to-sprout-near-The-Woodlands-6006879.php

• http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/The-Woodlands-new-urban-face-challenges-suburban-4780230.php

• http://communityimpact.com/2014/07/07/metros-proposed-plan-could-alter-area-routes-2/

• http://www.interculturalurbanism.com/?p=343

• http://www.law.umn.edu/news/study-finds-racially-diverse-suburban-communities-growing-faster-than-white-suburbs-but-resegregation-threatens-prosperity-and-stability-7-20-2012.html

• http://www.npr.org/2015/02/12/385474414/with-porches-and-parks-a-texas-community-aims-for-urban-utopia

• http://www.terrain.org/2013/unsprawl/willow-bend/

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