what kind of community is katy, texas? (Houston, The Woodlands: homes, neighbourhood)

[zednemtheadventurer]

Katy started off as a small rice farming community and had a small town mentality for many years.

Over the past 30 years Katy, Texas has continued to modernize as the 'Old Katy' people slowly die off.

Many of the streets and now some of the schools are named for those original Katy families and their descendants go to those schools.

I grew up in the West Memorial subdivision off of Mason Rd. but even though I was in Katy... Old Katy people did not consider us Katy-ites!

I remember driving my truck to Katy High school with guns in the back window in my gun rack and the principal asked me to take them out so that he could look at them and he pulled his rifle out of the trunk of his car and let me look at his! Right in the parking lot of the school as all of the kids walked by.

The kids that dipped snuff all stayed in the back of the class spitting in cups or on the carpet and rubbing it in with their feet when the teacher turned around. Teachers used to give us pops in class for tardies, dis-respect, fights, cheating, and not doing our homework to name a few things. Not all of them, but a few of the really good ones.

I married a girl who came from a poor Katy-ite family (Her dad graduated from Katy HS in the class of 56') He talks about all of the old days of Katy and the surrounding areas. Off of 249 and Barker Cypress area used to be called wolf alley because all of the locals used to shoot wolves and coyotes and hang them from the fences and trees for miles along the roads out there.

I was lucky enough to get to do security in the exact same schools that I went to and saw the dramatic contrast from when I was a kid and a few of the same teachers were there as well.

Now, young kids are caught having sex in bathrooms, smoking, and looking at porn on laptops. Armed guards walk the halls and campuses, what used to have art pictures that the students drew in art class, now has graffiti, A kid getting into a fight now gets you suspended, arrested, and fined. I had lots of fights and most of the people that tried to beat me up and failed became some of my closest friends. Now, it is hard to find a teacher or a student that can actually speak English. When I was younger the whole school would begin to pick up excitement around Oct. 1st because all of the holidays were on their way. Oct. 1st teachers would begin decorating their classrooms, teaching us the history of each holiday from its oldest origins to the present evolution. They would plan parties and pot-luck type displays. Now they are not even allowed to have a pumpkin (not a jack-o' lantern, a pumpkin) because someone might get offended. I had a teacher wish me a happy winter solstice and I snapped at her, "Happy winter solstice! I'm not a freakin' Druid!" Needless to say I am not working security for the school district anymore! In football practice if we dared ask the coach for water (in the Texas heat, in full pads) he would tell us that people in Hell wanted icewater and made us all run laps for that one person's moment of weakness. Now these pampered kids are all dieing during their practice. My children now are at such a disadvantage now, compared to the way things were.

I apologize for rambling but it is a sore spot with me! Non-Katy people now fill boards, buy homes, and run businesses here in Katy and it has taken a lot of that small town charm away. We used to swim in the rice-wells after school or skinny dip in various bodies of water. Now everybody talks about lawsuits and nobody knows their neighbour unless they have been here for a while!

Thanx for the soap box moment... now I got to get back to work!

[sbhubbell]

Geez, enough with the ranting.

Ok so to answer a few more of your questions...I just moved to south Katy (yes there is a big difference) and I'm still learning some things. I haven't figured out which direction the political affiliations lean yet, because much to my surprise NO ONE puts out yard signs. But I am finding that there is a total mix of stay at home moms and dual income families. Lots of both. And it is not nearly as "white" as people led me to believe. Everywhere I turn there are plenty of hispanic, african american, indian and asian families. Granted they are not diverse socio-economically...all have good jobs with strong incomes, but ethnically it is very diverse.

It is also not as "keeping up with the Joneses" as I was led to believe either. My neighborhood has a wide mix of homes, several builders and homes ranging from smaller ranches in the 200's to large two stories in the high 300's. And I'm not familiar with any areas of Cinco Ranch selling homes lower than 170, unless it's the 55+ community. I am aware of homes will over a million dollars, but they are not really the norm.

We absolutely love it here. The schools are fantastic, the neighborhoods are super family friendly. My neighborhood had an impromtu post-hurricane block party tonight and EVERYONE turned out and had a great time.

[zednemtheadventurer]

Katy, Texas

GOOD: Still has some people with the small town mind (People that bake pies and put them in the windows to cool off or bring them to a person who has just moved in on the block, people that will move onto the shoulder with their car if you come up behind them so that you can pass, they have carnivals, parades, and festivals; they are very patriotic and have block parties for Independence day where all of the neighbors get together and bring food and all of the fireworks that they bought to share with everybody there, people that you do not know still occasionally wave to you.) It is fairly clean. Even non-native-Katy people are friendly. Crime is below average. Huge old oak trees still shade many of down town Katy’s streets and houses. Katy used to close at 6:00 pm and nothing was open… now things are open late! There are more activities for the kids to do. Schools are some of the best and do not have too bad of an element in them. Some of the older residents of Katy have died that were halting progress and now that they are not here Katy is booming! (It’s a love/hate relationship with long-time Katy people)

BAD: Katy has lost a lot of its small town charm. The whole city is developing a politically correct mentality. Developers have built master planned communities over some of the most beautiful natural lands in Katy, Katy is becoming like downtown Houston and a lot of those bad elements are filtering in at a rapid pace (those bad elements are why a lot of the people moved out of the city to begin with). There is a move by non-long-term residents of Katy to get rid of the old rice driers that have defined our Katy skyline for many years as well as many other sites that makes Katy locals still feel like it is their home. Fastfood places are springing up everywhere and combined with all of the non-local people, it has driven many of those small ‘mom & pop’ food places out of business which used to have the best tasting burgers and best original icecream floats. Cinco Ranch has the majority of the drugs in the Katy area but it is also one of the nicer looking areas.

Traditionally Katy has been a very politically Conservative area whether you were Republican or Democrat you were more Conservative in nature. Today things are continually shifting, but it is still a Republican dominated city… for the most part! It’s Conservative leanings are beginning to fade and a lot of Independents and Moderates are finding a voice.

Here is the deal with the whole north/south of Katy thing going on… Katy was a closed community. Katy High school football was what got the town’s blood pumping. An influx of non-local people that worked in Houston but bought houses out here began to upset the status quo at Katy HS. Katy was an old money community, anti-anything not Old Katy, segregated by choice, good ol’ boy cops, and not accepting of anything new. The new kids to filter into Katy were new money people, outsiders and even Yankees, of various races and ethnicities, and did not know anything about rice farming. The school filled up and fights were common.

Then they built Taylor HS and the school split in two… I-10 was the line between north & south. The north was Old-Town Katy, fields, and rice farms and the south was becoming subdivisions, golf courses, and master planned communities full of outsiders. Half of the school was forced to go to Taylor HS, friends were split up, the football team was split up, and even people on the same block were split. This split began a rival that lasts until today. Then much later Mayde Creek HS was built and it further split the two schools. The south was under a development boom and poorer people migrated to the north side of I-10 to both get away from all of the development and to find a place to live that they could afford.

It was broken down like this: Katy (Old money & Katy-Ites), Taylor (New money & Yankees), and Mayde Creek (Low income, more ethnic minorities, took the unfavorables out of both Taylor and Katy and put into one school, they started forming gangs)

When I went to school the zonings changed again and Mason Road became what was called the ‘Mason Dixon Line’ because everyone on the west side of Mason Rd. went to Katy and everyone on the East side of Mason Rd. went to Taylor (Neither school dealt with the North side of I-10) (Mason Rd. ran north to south and was split by I-10) The north side of Mason Rd. on the other side of I-10 was under developed, full of thugs, and no stores to really hang out at. The south side of Mason Rd. had all of the hangout places, tons of people to socialize with, and where all of the money was located.

[Weatherguy]

Originally Posted by zednemtheadventurer

Katy, Texas

GOOD: Still has some people with the small town mind (People that bake pies and put them in the windows to cool off or bring them to a person who has just moved in on the block, people that will move onto the shoulder with their car if you come up behind them so that you can pass, they have carnivals, parades, and festivals; they are very patriotic and have block parties for Independence day where all of the neighbors get together and bring food and all of the fireworks that they bought to share with everybody there, people that you do not know still occasionally wave to you.) It is fairly clean. Even non-native-Katy people are friendly. Crime is below average. Huge old oak trees still shade many of down town Katy’s streets and houses. Katy used to close at 6:00 pm and nothing was open… now things are open late! There are more activities for the kids to do. Schools are some of the best and do not have too bad of an element in them. Some of the older residents of Katy have died that were halting progress and now that they are not here Katy is booming! (It’s a love/hate relationship with long-time Katy people)

BAD: Katy has lost a lot of its small town charm. The whole city is developing a politically correct mentality. Developers have built master planned communities over some of the most beautiful natural lands in Katy, Katy is becoming like downtown Houston and a lot of those bad elements are filtering in at a rapid pace (those bad elements are why a lot of the people moved out of the city to begin with). There is a move by non-long-term residents of Katy to get rid of the old rice driers that have defined our Katy skyline for many years as well as many other sites that makes Katy locals still feel like it is their home. Fastfood places are springing up everywhere and combined with all of the non-local people, it has driven many of those small ‘mom & pop’ food places out of business which used to have the best tasting burgers and best original icecream floats. Cinco Ranch has the majority of the drugs in the Katy area but it is also one of the nicer looking areas.

Traditionally Katy has been a very politically Conservative area whether you were Republican or Democrat you were more Conservative in nature. Today things are continually shifting, but it is still a Republican dominated city… for the most part! It’s Conservative leanings are beginning to fade and a lot of Independents and Moderates are finding a voice.

Here is the deal with the whole north/south of Katy thing going on… Katy was a closed community. Katy High school football was what got the town’s blood pumping. An influx of non-local people that worked in Houston but bought houses out here began to upset the status quo at Katy HS. Katy was an old money community, anti-anything not Old Katy, segregated by choice, good ol’ boy cops, and not accepting of anything new. The new kids to filter into Katy were new money people, outsiders and even Yankees, of various races and ethnicities, and did not know anything about rice farming. The school filled up and fights were common.

Then they built Taylor HS and the school split in two… I-10 was the line between north & south. The north was Old-Town Katy, fields, and rice farms and the south was becoming subdivisions, golf courses, and master planned communities full of outsiders. Half of the school was forced to go to Taylor HS, friends were split up, the football team was split up, and even people on the same block were split. This split began a rival that lasts until today. Then much later Mayde Creek HS was built and it further split the two schools. The south was under a development boom and poorer people migrated to the north side of I-10 to both get away from all of the development and to find a place to live that they could afford.

It was broken down like this: Katy (Old money & Katy-Ites), Taylor (New money & Yankees), and Mayde Creek (Low income, more ethnic minorities, took the unfavorables out of both Taylor and Katy and put into one school, they started forming gangs)

When I went to school the zonings changed again and Mason Road became what was called the ‘Mason Dixon Line’ because everyone on the west side of Mason Rd. went to Katy and everyone on the East side of Mason Rd. went to Taylor (Neither school dealt with the North side of I-10) (Mason Rd. ran north to south and was split by I-10) The north side of Mason Rd. on the other side of I-10 was under developed, full of thugs, and no stores to really hang out at. The south side of Mason Rd. had all of the hangout places, tons of people to socialize with, and where all of the money was located.

Really interesting writeup! I grew up in Houston (moved in 1971) and never knew a thing about Katy, other than it was an exit on I-10. Glad to hear that it's more politically diverse these days, as is increasingly the case all over that area and the state.

[sbhubbell]

Ok that's some great history but you left off the part where they built two MORE high schools south of I-10 that are academically superior to the other three...that's kind of important to newcomers. There's also a lot more to do than just Mason Rd as far as places to shop and hang out now...there's La Centerra, the stuff on Westheimer, the stuff on south Fry...and they'll be building tons more. And I don't know where you're getting the quote about Cinco Ranch having the majority of the drugs in Katy?? Yeah, I don't think so.

[Weatherguy]

Originally Posted by sbhubbell

Ok that's some great history but you left off the part where they built two MORE high schools south of I-10 that are academically superior to the other three...that's kind of important to newcomers. There's also a lot more to do than just Mason Rd as far as places to shop and hang out now...there's La Centerra, the stuff on Westheimer, the stuff on south Fry...and they'll be building tons more. And I don't know where you're getting the quote about Cinco Ranch having the majority of the drugs in Katy?? Yeah, I don't think so.

Where there's affluence, there's drugs, whether or not parents want to acknowledge it or not.

[usc619]

Thanks zednemtheadventure that was some good insight

[sbhubbell]

Originally Posted by Weatherguy

Where there's affluence, there's drugs, whether or not parents want to acknowledge it or not.

Of course there is but I'd like a little backup info to say Cinco has the most drugs in Katy? Where there's poverty there's drugs too...and where there's high parent involvement there's less drugs...

[zednemtheadventurer]

Everytime I go to comment it turns into a book! I'll try to make this shorter...

I did security, investigations, process serving, and some law enforcement in the Houston/Katy areas. Cinco is not the only place with drugs but it is heavy there... even some of the poor people know to go there for the good/hard stuff, or steroids,or what ever.

Here are a list of the high schools...


Cinco Ranch High School (CRHS)
23440 Cinco Ranch Boulevard
Katy, Texas 77494
P: 281-237-7000
F: 281-644-1734
CRHS Attendance Zone (broken link)

Katy High School (KHS)
6331 Highway Boulevard
Katy, Texas 77494
P: 281-237-6700
F: 281-644-1700
KHS Attendance Zone (broken link)

Martha Raines High School (RHS)
1732 Katyland Drive
Katy, TX 77493
P: 281-237-6350
F: 281-644-1780

Mayde Creek High School (MCHS)
19202 Groschke Road
Houston, Texas 77084
P: 281-237-3000
F: 281-644-1715
MCHS Attendance Zone (broken link)

Miller Career & Technology Center (MCTC)
1734 Katyland Drive
Katy, Texas 77493
P: 281-237-6300
F: 281-644-1775
2008-09 MCTC Brochure (broken link)
(broken link)
Morton Ranch High School (MRHS)
21000 Franz Rd
Katy, Texas 77449
P: 281-237-7800
F: 281-644-1746
MRHS Attendance Zone (broken link)

Opportunity Awareness Center (OAC)
1732 Katyland Drive
Katy, Texas 77493
P: 281-237-6350
F: 281-644-1780

Seven Lakes High School (SLHS)
9251 South Fry Road
Katy, TX 77494
P: 281-237-2800
F: 281-644-1785
SLHS Attendance Zone (broken link)

Taylor High School (THS)
20700 Kingsland Boulevard
Katy, Texas 77450
P: 281-237-3100
F: 281-644-1760
THS Attendance Zone (broken link)

[texasdreamss]

I have heard nothing but good things about Katy, I was considering moving there myself but I heard that it is 30-35 miles out of houston and If you live there , you must have a job real close to your home.