Houston Annextion

[elecpharm]

Great Illustration of Houston's annexation history.

 

If not for the controversial Kingwood annexation, I'm sure the city annexation footprint would be much larger.

 

http://youtu.be/445Z1Dc5-Rw

[GEM]

Welcome to the H-Town machine...........

[ToryGattis]

This might be a good thread to discuss the pros and cons of Houston annexing all or part of northwest Harris County to become the 3rd  or even 2nd largest city in America...

[FilioScotia]

I don't believe Houston will ever annex "all" or even "part" of NW Harris County. There are too many voters who would be angry enough to vote out any Mayor and/or City Council members who voted to annex them. A few thousand votes one way or the other can send a Mayor or Council Member back to private life.

 

Houston is more likely to do what is known as carefully gerrymandered "strip annexation", such as what it did along Hwy 249 from the Beltway northward past Willowbrook Mall. They are very careful to avoid residential areas and annex only the commercial frontage on both sides of the highway.

 

This tactic allows Houston to collect commercial property and sales taxes, without having to provide infra-structure and city services that a large scale residential annexation would require it to do.

[cowboybud]

The annexation of the Greenspoint/Aldine area led to its downfall.

[nativehoustonion]

NW Harris county has a population of 1.5 million residents.  The city of Houston should do some annexes.  We cannot be hemmed in like Dallas.  But Jersey Village, Tomball, and Cypress could annex.  I believe Houston will annex the ExxonMobil campus.  The Grand Parkway is now under construction.  This would will surpass Chicago and make us the 3rd largest city in the country.  Houston cannot annex 1.5 million, but the city should look at it.

[nativehoustonion]

sorry for the spelling still working.

[august948]

NW Harris county has a population of 1.5 million residents.  The city of Houston should do some annexes.  We cannot be hemmed in like Dallas.  But Jersey Village, Tomball, and Cypress could annex.  I believe Houston will annex the ExxonMobil campus.  The Grand Parkway is now under construction.  This would will surpass Chicago and make us the 3rd largest city in the country.  Houston cannot annex 1.5 million, but the city should look at it.

I think the City looks at it primarily from a financial viewpoint, rather than just trying to grow it's pop count. As in, "Is the annexation going to bring in as much or more money than the services will cost?" A real estate agent told me when we moved here that the City likes to wait until the local MUD pays down it's debt before annexing so it gets the facilities without the extra debt service.

[RedScare]

Look closely at this city boundary map. See those grid patterns all across Spring, 290, and Cypress? Those are little pieces of annexed territory. Houston's Extra Territorial Jurisdiction extends 5 miles from each of those city limits. No one may incorporate without the permission of the City of Houston. The Woodlands was given permission to incorporate, and they are paying us $30 million for the privilege.

 

Houston will never be Dallasified.

 

[elecpharm]

similar topic thread here:

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/27754-houston-annexation/

[RedScare]

You know, that incredibly ignorant post #5 would have never been seen again but for you linking to that thread.

[Ross]

The City will not annex anything that has voters. Businesses, yes, houses, no. That way, the City gets lots of lovely taxes without having to listen to a bunch of whiny, demanding voters.

[jt16]

The City will not annex anything that has voters. Businesses, yes, houses, no. That way, the City gets lots of lovely taxes without having to listen to a bunch of whiny, demanding voters.

Like Kimgwood?

[Ross]

Like Kimgwood?

 

The Kingwood annexation brought changes in the law that pretty much killed any future mass annexations.

[nativehoustonion]

Great, thanks for the map.  The 2020 census we will be very close to Chicago in city population.  Fist Rating on Wednesday put credit ratings on $8.7 billion of outstanding Chicago debt on a watch list for a possible downgrade, citing the city's growing underfunded public pension liability.  Sorry to change the subject.

[mfastx]

To me, official city populations aren't that big a deal. The Chicago area is still much larger than us.  Our urbanized area (a good way to gauge how big the city is) is still under 5 million while Chicago's is at about 8.6 million.  Still a hefty difference.

[Hugh Stone]

The Business Journals' On the Numbers analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data estimates the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area's population at 6.22 million as of April 1 (2012), up 274,162 from 5.95 million a year earlier.

[RedScare]

To me, official city populations aren't that big a deal. The Chicago area is still much larger than us.  Our urbanized area (a good way to gauge how big the city is) is still under 5 million while Chicago's is at about 8.6 million.  Still a hefty difference.

 

Urbanized area populations aren't a big deal either. If they were, people other than city-data freaks would talk about them.

 

Here is what IS a big deal. Houston is growing faster than any city in the country, while Chicago is losing population. Which one would you like to be?

[mfastx]

Urbanized area populations aren't a big deal either. If they were, people other than city-data freaks would talk about them.

 

Here is what IS a big deal. Houston is growing faster than any city in the country, while Chicago is losing population. Which one would you like to be?

 

Lol, well you could say the same for official city populations haha.  We're all freaks here

 

And that's true, Chicago's urban area only grew by a few hundred thousand in the last ten years, while Houston's grew by over a million. 

 

Both have their pros and cons, Houston is in a great position for the future.

[ricco67]

Lol, well you could say the same for official city populations haha.  We're all freaks here

 

A significant amount of most cities would also consider a bunch of rank amateurs are DEBATING populations as a bit freaky.

But, hey, everyone needs a hobby.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I figure that Midtown, Montrose, and Heights will experience a population increase of about 4,000 people in just over the next two years.   That is, of course, after all of the apartments, town homes, and Highrises that are currently under construction are completed.  That doesn't include of stuff that isn't even on our radar.

[livincinco]

A significant amount of most cities would also consider a bunch of rank amateurs are DEBATING populations as a bit freaky.

But, hey, everyone needs a hobby.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I figure that Midtown, Montrose, and Heights will experience a population increase of about 4,000 people in just over the next two years. That is, of course, after all of the apartments, town homes, and Highrises that are currently under construction are completed. That doesn't include of stuff that isn't even on our radar.

That actually sounds a little bit low to me. The population of Houston grew by approx 34,000 last year and the overall metro grew by about 100,000 people. If we extrapolate that over two years, that would be only about 2% of the projected metro gain moving into those areas. Might be right, but seems a little low given all the talk of "reurbanization".

BTW, consider me proud of my freakishness!

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2013/05/houston-no-2-on-population-growth.html

[ricco67]

While I won't argue your numbers, I'm only talking about the areas that I specified and only did a rough number of the town homes that I know are under construction as well as the known number of apartment buildings.

 

[nativehoustonion]

There are 10,000 units being built within the loop.  Your numbers are wrong.  You should check what is going on behind the Huntington high rise in the Avalon area.  They are building $1,000,000 houses only 1 is left out of 20.  Hines is building a 17 floors office tower behind BBVA the River Oaks Tower behind it.  The land is already cleared. 

[RedScare]

Of course, simply counting people who move into the loop is not sufficient. One must subtract those moving out. As an area gentrifies, the larger poor families move out, and smaller wealthier people move in. Often times, this results in a net loss in population. Just using my block as an example, of the 20 homes on the block, only 2 of them have children in them, a total of 5 children. 5 of the homes only have one person living in them. So, 20 homes on one block with a population of 40. Back in the 70s, this block may have had twice that many living here.

[livincinco]

There are 10,000 units being built within the loop. Your numbers are wrong. You should check what is going on behind the Huntington high rise in the Avalon area. They are building $1,000,000 houses only 1 is left out of 20. Hines is building a 17 floors office tower behind BBVA the River Oaks Tower behind it. The land is already cleared.

Rico used a different criteria than you did. He only considered building in certain neighborhoods, so I wouldn't be so quick to say that he's wrong.

BTW, is your 10,000 unit number a net number? I believe that quite a few of those are replacing existing developments.

[RedScare]

Rico used a different criteria than you did. He only considered building in certain neighborhoods, so I wouldn't be so quick to say that he's wrong.

BTW, is your 10,000 unit number a net number? I believe that quite a few of those are replacing existing developments.

 

It is from a Chronicle article last week. It doesn't state whether it is net, but it is likely based on permitted units, and would not be net. Further, the article stated 10,000 units being built "close in", not necessarily inside the loop. Galleria numbers are likely included.

[ricco67]

There are 10,000 units being built within the loop.  Your numbers are wrong.  You should check what is going on behind the Huntington high rise in the Avalon area.  They are building $1,000,000 houses only 1 is left out of 20.  Hines is building a 17 floors office tower behind BBVA the River Oaks Tower behind it.  The land is already cleared. 

 

 

Rico used a different criteria than you did. He only considered building in certain neighborhoods, so I wouldn't be so quick to say that he's wrong.

BTW, is your 10,000 unit number a net number? I believe that quite a few of those are replacing existing developments.

 

I used VERY rough numbers. 

 

For apts, I assumed an average of 1.7 people.    This would allow for people with roommates, vacant units, and those with multiple rooms.  I figure it would be a fairly ballpark figure.

 

For townhomes, I assumed a 2.1 average for basically the same reason.  

 

Again, I was specific with particular neighbhoods because I was familiar with what was being built, but I'd have to say that the majority of the population increase would be in areas named.

[nativehoustonion]

I do not know where you live.  I live in the Upper Kirby District.  There a mid rises everywhere, including cranes.  There is also a 40 floor high rise going up on Alabama.  Also another 8 floor high rise on the other side.  21 floor high rise off Allen Parkway.  They just expanded West Ave. and so on and so on. 

[ricco67]

I do not know where you live.  I live in the Upper Kirby District.  There a mid rises everywhere, including cranes.  There is also a 40 floor high rise going up on Alabama.  Also another 8 floor high rise on the other side.  21 floor high rise off Allen Parkway.  They just expanded West Ave. and so on and so on. 

 

I understand that.  I read the HAIF the same as you do.  I'm just talking about a specific area that I am usually in.

[Houston19514]

I used VERY rough numbers. 

 

For apts, I assumed an average of 1.7 people.    This would allow for people with roommates, vacant units, and those with multiple rooms.  I figure it would be a fairly ballpark figure.

 

For townhomes, I assumed a 2.1 average for basically the same reason.  

 

Again, I was specific with particular neighbhoods because I was familiar with what was being built, but I'd have to say that the majority of the population increase would be in areas named.

 

I think your assumed average of 1.7 people per apartment is quite high.  Probably closer to 1.2 people per apartment.