Kingwood, Houston, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kingwood is a 14,000-acre (57 km²) master-planned community located in northeast Houston, Texas. The majority of the community is located in Harris County with a small portion in Montgomery County. It is the largest master-planned community in Harris County and second-largest within the 10-county Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area.
Known as the "Livable Forest," Kingwood is being developed on Lake Houston by the Friendswood Development Company, headed up by John Bruton, Jr., and was founded in 1969. The name is derived from the King Ranch, which at one point owned the land, as well as from the Friendswood Development Company.
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[edit] Subdivisions
Kingwood is divided into subdivisions, called "villages" including:
- Barrington
- Bear Branch
- Elm Grove
- Fosters Mill
- Fosters Mill Estates
- Greentree
- Greentree Manor
- Hunters Ridge
- Lakes at Kings River Estates
- Kings Crossing
- Kings Forest
- Kings Forest Estates
- Kings Point
- Kings River
- Kingwood Glen
- Kingwood Greens
- Kingwood Lakes
- Kingwood Place
- Mills Branch
- North Woodland Hills
- Riverchase
- Royal Shores
- Sand Creek
- Sherwood Trails
- South Woodland Hills
- Town Center
- Trailwood
- Woodstream
Most villages have a neighborhood pool providing free access for village residents, and most provide their own set of village-specific services.
Trailwood Village is Kingwood's oldest subdivision, with its first homes being completed in 1971; while new homes are still being built in Barrington, Kingwood Greens, Kings River, Kings Point, and Royal Shores.
Several other subdivisions and developments have developed around the Kingwood area, though they are not actually part of Kingwood. Some of these subdivisions are Forest Cove, Deer Ridge Estates, North Kingwood Forest, Kings Lake Estates, Lakewood Cove and Woodspring Forest. Nearby developments include Oakhurst at Kingwood and Kings Manor. Oakhurst does pay Kingwood Service Association fees, is considered part of Kingwood and is also developed by Friendswood Development.
[edit] Education
Kingwood pupils residing in Harris County attend the Humble Independent School District. Kingwood High School serves the area, and Kingwood Park High School will open in 2007. All students attending the Humble Independent School District have the option to attend Quest High School, a magnet high school in Atascocita.
Students residing in Montgomery County attend the New Caney Independent School District. A small portion of North Woodland Hills, as well as the Kings Manor and Oakhurst developments, are located in Montgomery County.
Kingwood is served by three Humble ISD middle schools: Kingwood Middle School, Creekwood Middle School and Riverwood Middle School. Starting in August of 2007, Kingwood Middle School students will attend Kingwood Park High School and Creekwood and Riverwood middle schools will continue to attend Kingwood High.
In addition to the high schools and middle schools, Kingwood is served by nine Humble ISD elementary schools. These schools are Bear Branch Elementary, Deerwood Elementary, Elm Grove Elementary, Foster Elementary, Greentree Elementary, Hidden Hollow Elementary, Shadow Forest Elementary, Willow Creek Elementary, and Woodland Hills Elementary. Portions of Kings River and Kingwood Glen Manor attend Pine Forest Elementary in Humble, but go to middle and high school in Kingwood.
Private schools in Kingwood include Northeast Christian Academy, Pines Montessori School, Christian School of Kingwood, and St. Martha Catholic School.
Kingwood College is two-year community college that serves the area and it is part of the North Harris/Montgomery Community College District.
[edit] Services
Kingwood is served by the Kingwood Branch of the Harris County Public Library. The branch is slated to become a "City-County" Branch as part of a partnership with the Houston Public Library.[1]
Police, fire and ambulance services are provided by the City of Houston.
The Houston public works department is responsible for the maintenance and construction of roads in Kingwood, but are not responsible for the greenbelt trails that run throughout the community.
The greenbelt trails' maintenance is the responsibility of the homeowners association in each village. Over 75 miles of greenbelts comb the area.
METRO operates a single Park and Ride location in Kingwood to provide commuters with an alternative to driving themselves downtown.
The Kingwood Chamber of Commerce [1] serves local businesses and the community with regular activities such as Kleenwood.
[edit] Community Events
Kingwood residents enjoy a number of community events throughout the year, including:
- Mardi Gras, held in February at Town Center Park. The event includes a Mardi Gras parade, a vendor fair and a free open air concert.
- Picnic on the Park, held the day before Easter in Town Center Park. An Easter weekend favorite, children of all ages can participate in the free Easter egg hunt. The event also offers game booths, a vendor fair, and performances by local area groups.
- Spring and Fall Car Shows, in Town Center Park. The car shows typical draw up to 200 entrants in a wide variety of categories. The Spring Car Show is held in April and the Fall show is typically held in October.
- Fourth of July Parade, the parade route goes from Creekwood Middle School on West Lake Houston Parkway to the Kingwood High School on Kingwood Drive.
- 4th Of July Fireworks - The festivities at Town Center include an open air concert, as well as a vendor fair, culminating in a fireworks display at dusk.
- Christmas in the Park, Held in December at Town Center Park, residents can browse the craft and vendor booths while enjoying performances from local groups. The day ends with a tree lighting ceremony in the park.
[edit] Politics / Representation
Originally an unincorporated area, the section of Kingwood in Harris County was annexed by the city of Houston in 1996 despite vehement protest by the community. The contested annexation was appealed to the Texas Supreme Court and led to the passage of Texas Senate Bill 89 in 1999, which curbed city annexation rights.
Kingwood residents vote mostly Republican, and all representatives of Kingwood on local and state levels are Republican.
- The state representative, representing district 127, is Joe Crabb.
- The congressional representative, representing Texas's 2nd congressional district, is Ted Poe, who won by 55% in 2004 [2].
- Kingwood is in Texas Senate District 4, represented by Tommy Williams.
- Kingwood is represented on the Houston City Council by Addie Wiseman.
[edit] Community services
Kingwood Park, which is operated by the city of Houston, is at 2700 Bens Branch at Ben View [3].
[edit] Police service
The Houston Police Department's Kingwood Division [4] provides law enforcement services to Kingwood.
The Kingwood Storefront Station is located at 3915 Rustic Woods (Kingwood, Texas address) [5].
[edit] Fire service
Kingwood is served by the Houston Fire Department stations numbered 101, 102 and 103. Station number 104 serves the Forest Cove subdivision.
[edit] Demographics
- Covering Zip Codes: 77339, 77345, 77346.
- Total Population within these Zip Codes: 81,692 people
- The Census Median Household Income for this geography is $77,527. The Median Family Income is $84,387, and the Average Non-family Income is $51,735. The Per Capita Income revealed in the Census for this geography was $32,491.
- This geography included a total of 29,351 Housing Units, of which 80% were Owner Occupied, 15% were Renter Occupied, 4% were vacant, and 66% were mortgaged.
[edit] Education
- 53.63% have college degrees
- 26.64% have some college
- 19.73% have no college education
[edit] Top Occupations
- Management - 17.1%
- Sales & Related - 14.1%
- Office & Administrative Support - 13.9%
- Education - 8.7%
[edit] Transportation
- 82.1% Drive to work alone
- 9.4% Carpool
- 2.7% Take a Bus
- 3.7% Work at Home
[edit] Household Makeup
- 69.35% - Married
- 19.2% - Never Married
- 6.58% - Divorced
- 3.06% - Widowed
- 1.81% - Separated
[edit] Race & Ethnicity
- White - 89.8%
- Hispanic - 7.8%
- Black - 3.8%
- Asian - 2.5%
- Other - 3.9%
Source: [6]
[edit] Trivia
- Kingwood was once the long-time home to former boxing heavyweight champion George Foreman.
- Kingwood is the long-time home to pro baseball player and coach Phil Garner.
- Kingwood is hometown to actress/singer Renee Olstead.
- Administaff, the nation's leading Professional Employer Organization (PEO), has their corporate headquarters in Kingwood. [7]
- Tin Cup, a 1996 film starring Kevin Costner, was filmed on location at Kingwood Country Club and the Deerwood Club.
- In 1999, four female Kingwood High School students were arrested after holding up five local businesses at gunpoint.[2]. The girls, who may have robbed the stores to finance a recreational drug habit, were convicted of armed robbery [3] It has been rumored that the film Sugar and Spice was loosely based on those events.
[edit] References
- ^ Williamson, Harry. "Kingwood Library Plans Move Forward", Houston Chronicle, 2007-02-09. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
- ^ Moriarty, Erin."Queens Of Armed Robbery - Teen Athlete Serving Time For Robbing Convenience Stores"48 Hours Reports. March 31, 2004
- ^ Dewan, Shaila."Nice Girls With Guns Kingwood High friends say the girls were "Sweet." Adults say "Well-Mannered." Cops say "armed robbers." ", Houston Press. Sep 16, 1999.
[edit] External links
- Kingwood Chamber of Commerce
- Kingwood Civic Club
- Kingwood.com
- Kingwood Radio
- Kingwood Online
- Kingwood Now
- Kingwood Town Center
- The Kingwood Connection
- Rate Kingwood Businesses
- SearchKingwood.com
- Kingwood Underground
- Kingwood High web site
- Kingwood house values and trends
- Kingwood's local newspaper
- [8] - Handbook of Texas article on Kingwood
- Picnic on the Park
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