f95kai Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 Check out this excerpt from the prestigious global magazine's October 12 edition, from an article about America's population growth.Houston, we have lift-offCan America cope with a relentlessly expanding population? A look at Houston suggests it can. The city is one of America's fastest-growing. The population of Harris County, which includes Houston, grew by 21% in the 1990s, to 3.4m. The surrounding counties are booming, too. Since Houston has no zoning laws, developers can build wherever they think there will be demand. Rather than waiting for the city to extend sewers and power lines to outlying areas, they can issue bonds to pay for such services themselves, and pass the cost on to the people who buy the houses they build.At the Woodlands, a 28,000-acre (11,300 hectares) planned community north of Houston, you can buy a three-bedroom family home on a quiet wooded street for $130,000. By comparison, the median house price in San Francisco is over $700,000. The Woodlands has good schools, 145 miles (235km) of hiking trails, golf courses designed by the three greatest retired golfers in the world, and a cluster of oil and high-tech firms.It is also safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieDidIt Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 (edited) It is also safe. Edited October 18, 2006 by KatieDidIt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PureAuteur Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 It is also safe. “Police salaries are paid by the community, not the county, so we have more of them,” says Roger Galatas, who used to run the Woodlands operating company. The community makes its own rules. Restrictive covenants prevent anyone from uprooting too many trees, or building eyesoresRoger hasn't been out much lately. What eyesores have you noticed lately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfootball Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 (edited) I think The Woodlands looks great. If anything, it's improved over the past 5 years. Edited October 18, 2006 by mrfootball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bachanon Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 the county needs a police substation out near sterling ridge/magnolia. the woodlands would probably donate the land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieDidIt Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 the county needs a police substation out near sterling ridge/magnolia. the woodlands would probably donate the land.Definately needs more police. There is an article posted on here that states that there are .2..yes POINT TWO officers per 1,000. While understaffed Houston is still managing 2.2 officers. So I have NO CLUE what Galatas is talking about with his more police comments.As to the look.....you should see all the strip mall complexes they are building in Sterling Ridge. And frankly he probably hasn't been back here. Most people I talk to that live in Cochrans Crossing and eastward haven't ever been to the back, there is no reason to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bachanon Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 i think galatas may be a little ahead of himself. there will be more police officers (maybe double) in next years budget.i linked to a story about the increase in funding for police in another thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark F. Barnes Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Definately needs more police. There is an article posted on here that states that there are .2..yes POINT TWO officers per 1,000. While understaffed Houston is still managing 2.2 officers. So I have NO CLUE what Galatas is talking about with his more police comments.As to the look.....you should see all the strip mall complexes they are building in Sterling Ridge. And frankly he probably hasn't been back here. Most people I talk to that live in Cochrans Crossing and eastward haven't ever been to the back, there is no reason to. And don't leave out all the Wal-Marts you've been raising sand about for months on end, across the street from your multi-million dollar homes!!! At the Woodlands, a 28,000-acre (11,300 hectares) planned community north of Houston, you can buy a three-bedroom family home on a quiet wooded street for $130,000. By comparison, the median house price in San Francisco is over $700,000. The Woodlands has good schools, 145 miles (235km) of hiking trails, golf courses designed by the three greatest retired golfers in the world, and a cluster of oil and high-tech firms Which is a lot more accurate than all the "Multi-million dollar homes"!!! Can't wait till y'all get the Dollar General Super Store and the Family Dollar. Then you'll really be uptown. Maybe they'll put in one of those Mini-Gallerias featuring the prestigious Palais-Royal or maybe even a Wiener's. I understand they that their financial advisers think they can pull out of their Chapter 11 if they open a store in the "Woodlands". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Well, that's real fair. Compare prices IN San Francisco to prices 30 miles North of Houston. I fail to see the logic.There are plenty of people moving away from San Francisco to places 30 miles inland because the prices are cheaper. They may not be $130,000 because it is California, but they certainly aren't $700,000 either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark F. Barnes Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Well, that's real fair. Compare prices IN San Francisco to prices 30 miles North of Houston. I fail to see the logic.There are plenty of people moving away from San Francisco to places 30 miles inland because the prices are cheaper. They may not be $130,000 because it is California, but they certainly aren't $700,000 either! WTF are you talking about???? Re-read that. It has nothing to do with California. It does however have to do with the reality of the more accurate average price of a home in the "Woodlands", instead of the stuffed shirt elite status they like to claim because of all their "multi-million dollars homes". Are you still failing logic? California prices have NO comparison here. I can get $5 million for my home out there, real estate prices in California are insane. My sister is a realtor out there. It's all I here about is the insanity. And here's a free plug, anyone wanting to relocate to southern cal and in need of a realtor contact Rebecca Barnes becky@spierpeople.com. Everyone here seems to think you need a realtor, so why not plug my kid sister. Seriously if you re-read the point I was alluding to was in BOLD LETTERS, Hello are we getting it now? I don't like taking words out of context, so I quoted the entire paragraph, however high lighting the point in BOLD LETTERS to make it a little clearer. Guess you missed that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Uh, my problem was with the article, not with anything you wrote.It's lazy journalism to write an article comparing the prices of The Woodlands to the prices of San Francisco. They are not comparable by any means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringTX Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 It's lazy journalism to write an article comparing the prices of The Woodlands to the prices of San Francisco. They are not comparable by any means.I just checked housing prices in Dublin, CA. Dublin is a suburb 34 miles east of San Francisco. According to www.zillow.com, the average housing price in Dublin is $642K. In neighboring Pleasanton, it's $778K. San Ramon is $792K, Alameda $632K, Castro Valley $669K, etc.Surf around zillow.com's "heat map" for the San Francisco area and you'll see that $350/sf (yellow) is the low end for the suburbs - with a lot in the $400/sf (orange) or hotter. Compare that to the heat map for the Houston suburbs which shows a sea of icy blue ($100/sf or less). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonfella Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 And that's just one community on the outskirts of Houston. I believe the article intended to say that if you want to live well, earn a good income and find a lot to do in a big city atmosphere, Houston is priced for you. I don't think comparisons per se were the author's intention (other than how outrageous the home prices are in the Golden State). Judging by the number of Californians who have come to work at my place of employment here in H-town, most of them say they want to live the American dream: own a home. That has almost become impossible in California or New York, etc. They live here now and have adapted quite well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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