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CEE 7391 – Capstone Project

The Woodlands Retrospective to its Sustainable Future

Addendum to Next Steps – August 7, 2015

By: John A. Leos

Presented to: Ms. Betsy del Monte and Ms. Jessie Zarazaga

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Addendum to Next Steps

As the capstone project winds down to its completion, one last bridge remains to be crossed.

This bridge involves taking the next step to come up with a game plan to potentially implement

solutions from one of the main four areas that we studied for sustainable improvement in The

Woodlands. These four areas were: Affordable Housing, Transportation Options, Diversity Challenges,

and Environmental Impacts from Rapid Growth. To provide an implementation plan that can be

successful, I have narrowed down the plan to one area. I feel the most impactful area to attack are the

Diversity Challenges that have kept The Woodlands at a nearly 90% white make-up in a community not

far from Houston (Harris County). Recent data shows Harris County is now the 2nd

largest Hispanic

community in the country at 1.73 million Hispanics. In addition to Hispanics, Houston is now statistically

the most diverse metropolitan area in the United States after recently passing New York for that honor.

However, studies also conclude that Montgomery County is by far the most non-diverse county within

the Houston metropolitan area, and The Woodlands is in the heart of Montgomery County.

As noted in the capstone project, ethnic diversity was not only a sincere goal of George Mitchell,

but it was a key objective as a social component in securing HUD Title VII loans. Yet, somehow the

reality of ethnic diversity has eluded The Woodlands. Key components to the equation are affordable

housing and public transportation options. However, most challenges can be overcome by other strong

positives in The Woodlands, such as: job opportunities, large amounts of amenities, location of

amenities within the villages, transportation options within the community, multiple healthcare options,

natural preserves, parks, wildlife, and a strong local economy. In interviews and research with residents

of The Woodlands, it’s apparent that sustainability is important to their community and a community

cannot truly be sustainable with a lack of diversity.

With that said, the following it meant to be a potential process that The Woodlands can attempt

in order to achieve favorable results.

Create a Program to Assess and Improve Diversity in The Woodlands

1. Identify First Village for Initial Program: Start in Grogan’s Mill, the original village that opened

in 1974. This is the furthest south of all the villages and at the main arteries of Woodlands

Parkway and I-45. This location will provide easy access to long standing amenities, plus

possible links to the Houston Metro system if they expand just south of this area at Springwoods

Village to service the new Exxon offices. Grogan’s Mill will provide an excellent test location

from new programs as it is the oldest and most established village with 5,100 homes and 13,412

people. This makes for a small and controllable area to start with that currently is in a position

for remodeling and new opportunities from the initial design.

2. Create Alliances with Potential Contributors: Success in diversity is strong in Harris County, Fort

Bend County, and the City of Houston. Start to bring key people in to help assess and contribute

real world solutions in diversity within the metropolitan area. Look to bring in the Kinder

Institute at Rice for statistical data and analysis. Add in The Woodlands head of planning and

the Montgomery County officials for current local challenges. Then head up the group with

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James Rojas who has done a masterful job planning on the West Coast with Latino Urbanism.

Use this approach as a path to development sustainable diversity that encourages long term

growth of minorities within a community. Key players to invite:

• Stephen Klineberg – Kinder Institute at (713)348-3484

• Grady Prestage – Fort Bend County Commissioner at (281)342-3411

• El Franco Lee – Harris County Commissioner at (713)755-5000

• Patrick Walsh – City of Houston Planning at (832)393-6589

• Robert Heineman – The Woodlands Development Company at (281)719-6113

• James Noack – Montgomery County Commissioner at (281)367-3977

• James Rojas – Urban Planner at placeit.org and the Latino Urban Forum

3. Sharpen Focus for Initial Program: Although all minorities in and outside of the Houston

metropolitan area are equally important to the fabric of the region, the project must start from

a smaller and more controllable core to grow organically from. Based on Hispanics now starting

to consistently move to The Woodlands, and their large growing numbers in nearby Harris

County, it makes sense to start with this group in assessment and potential growth areas.

4. Form a Unique Intercultural Form of Urbanism: Latino Urbanism would start the process to

have the community as a whole understand the needs of a specific group and then begin to look

for ways to remodel a community to be more inclusive of new members. Focus on remodeling

and creating more density with increased transportation options versus new buildings. Also

focus on multi-family housing opportunities that allow for multi-generations to live and socially

interact.

5. Phases of the Process: The following are key phases and milestone dates for this project:

• Gather the Team for Project Kick-Off: November 2015

• Develop a Model that can Graphically Show Goals: April 2016

• Interactive Workshop to Garner Buy-in from the Project Team: July 2016

• Create Community Vision + Design + Policy: December 2016

• Outreach in the Community for the Vision: December 2016

• Implementation of New Community Concepts for Diversity: March 2016

• Open First Phase of New Community Concept: December 2016

This would be a unique project and process that has not been attempted in The Woodlands. Successes

of programs like Latino Urbanism are based in Los Angeles and the Western half of the United States

that have traditionally large Hispanic populations to start with. For The Woodlands, in some instances

this process will be starting from an initial seed to be planted. But with a strong foundation in place to

go with successful areas within the region, opportunities for immediate improvement will be plentiful.

In addition, attracting a bright mind like James Rojas to apply his unique planning abilities to a suburban

community that has not improved on diversity will be an amazing win for his legacy, as well as the future

legacy of The Woodlands. The process won’t be easy, but enough data and funding can be provided to

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give this a legitimate shot. Over 40 years ago all HUD Title VII developments failed but The Woodlands.

It has already defied odds to become a successful community. Now, they must embrace their next 40

years by championing a more diverse sustainable community.

Additional References

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2013/09/03/houston-brazoria-metro-area-has.html

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-region-is-now-the-most-diverse-in-the-U-

S-3384174.php

http://www.thewoodlandstx.com/grogansmill/

https://kinder.rice.edu/

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/us/what-ethnic-diversity-looks-like-fort-bend.html?_r=0

http://www.fortbendcountytx.gov/index.aspx

https://www.harriscountytx.gov/

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

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

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82204360/

http://www.placeit.org/index.html