The Woodlands is a census-designated place (CDP) and large master-planned community located in the counties of Montgomery and Harris in the state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of the 2005 census, the CDP had a total population of 80,951 Almost all of the community is located in the city of Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), but small portions of The Woodlands extends into the ETJ of Shenandoah and Conroe. Plans for annexation of both the Houston and Conroe portions were in discussion, but regional agreements have been set in place to allow the Woodlands to incorporate itself.

The Woodlands is located about 30 miles north of Houston along Interstate 45. Though it is mostly a suburban development and a bedroom community, it also has attacted corporations to the area. As a result, the area features several corporate campuses, most notably Chevron Phillips. The development won a Special Award for Excellence in 1994 from the Urban Land Institute.

In addition to resdiential and corporate housing, the Woodlands features a shopping mall, a regional concert venue, and six golf courses.

History

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The Woodlands was founded by George P. Mitchell in 1974 , managed by The Woodlands Corporation as an extension of Mitchell Energy & Development. The Woodlands Corporation was acquired on July 31, 1997 by a joint partnership between Morgan Stanley and Crescent Real Estate Equities. In December of 2003, the Rouse Company acquired Crescent's interest in The Woodlands, Rouse was itself sold to General Growth Properties Inc. on November 12, 2004.

The tract of land where The Woodlands is situated was previously occupied by the Grogan-Cochran Lumber Mill and are the namesakes for the Grogan's Mill and Cochran's Crossing neighborhoods. The original planning of The Woodlands utilized many of the planning concepts and design consultants employed in other well regarded new communities of that era such as Columbia, Maryland, Irvine Ranch, California and Reston, Virginia. The original development plan included enviromental design principals espoused by Ian McHarg, a distinguished landscape architect, teacher and author of the seminal work "Design With Nature."

The Woodlands continues to grow residentially and commercially as many companies are moving to The Woodlands. In addition to Chevron Phillips, Anadarko, Hewitt Associates, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Mærsk Sealand, Chicago Bridge & Iron, and Woodforest National Bank have set up operations in the development. The Woodlands Town Center area includes shopping and eating facilities, plus a waterway resembling the San Antonio River Walk.

Geography

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The Woodlands is located at (30.177430, -95.503795).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 61.8 km² (23.9 mi²). 60.6 km² (23.4 mi²) of it is land and 1.2 km² (0.5 mi²) of it (1.97%) is water.

The development is situated in a heavily forested area and much of the community has retained trees for shade and decoration. The terrain is of small rolling hills.

Demographics

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As of the census of 2005, there were 80,659 people, 29,252 households residing in the CDP with 29,252 housing units.

Education

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Pupils in the Montgomery County-portion of...