Are Conroe and Spring part of the Woodlands? (Commerce, Post: 2011, HOA)

[jimboburnsy]

There is no state income tax in Texas. Its probably a wash though because property taxes run between 2% and 3.5% of the appraised value and sales tax is also high.

[mariposa]

The Woodlands is not part of Spring or Conroe. It is an unincorporated area. Parts of Spring butt up against The Woodlands, and Conroe is a short drive north of The Woodlands.

By the way, schools in The Woodlands and those in Conroe belong to the same school district, Conroe ISD.

[chris_ut]

Originally Posted by jimboburnsy

There is no state income tax in Texas. Its probably a wash though because property taxes run between 2% and 3.5% of the appraised value and sales tax is also high.

Sales tax in Texas is only .25% higher than Florida.

[ManFromMissouri]

Originally Posted by Bike4Life

In the liveable forest, you pay for what you get. Higher property taxes plus there was some agreement that The Woodlands will "bribe" the City of Houston to avoid annexation. Still beats no state income tax in Texas.

Then again, it's too far from downtown Houston which is already inland at 50 miles from the coast.

I would argue if it beats paying income taxes unless you're making upwards of 200K + per year. It depends on how much house you have. If you have something over say 200, or 250, the law of diminishing returns would take center state i would imagine. I would argue that if you were making a ton of dough, that renting would be the way to go. Not like the property values in Texas are going to shoot up anytime soon with tax rates of 2.5 to 3%. Just look at California should you question my logic. Why do you think they have aimed to keep their property tax rates so low?

[mlticorona]

We have lived in the Spring/Woodlands area for about 10 years and love it! It is wonderful and has nice people. They have a really nice mall and shops. The taxes are a little high along with some of the real estate but, now days if you want nice things you have to pay!

[everdan]

Hi, The Woodlands, TX is an incorporated area that is to the north of Spring and south of Conroe (roughly). It is far enough north from the coast not to experience the worst of hurricane activity. By the time a hurricane reaches that far north, the only real 'weather' it would get from the storm would be rain. The Woodlands is a nice area and is getting pretty densely populated having a large population as well as a wide range of businesses, shopping areas, restaurants, hotels, motels, entertainment, etc. as well as the traffic that goes with same. My family lives just a couple of miles south of The Woodlands in Spring, near the Old Town Spring area in a new subdivision. We moved up here from La Porte, TX which sits right on Galveston Bay (north area). After Hurricane Rita when we had to evacuate (mandatory) and spent 23 hours on highways trying to reach family in San Antonio, we decided to move out of the wind and flood area. Best of luck to you in your search.

[jfre81]

The Woodlands is not incorporated, and Spring is not incorporated.

And yes, if you're in The Woodlands and a hurricane comes, chances are you can stay put. Don't freak out and clog the freeways. That's how things screwed up last time. I put the blame for that squarely on people up there, Cypress, Katy etc. That far inland you're at more risk on the roads than inside. If you're inclined to ignore this piece of advice, then pay attention to this one - go away and stay away. I hope this doesn't come off as too mean, because this only scratches upon my position on this.

[Indianspringsguy]

Originally Posted by jfre81

The Woodlands is not incorporated, and Spring is not incorporated.

And yes, if you're in The Woodlands and a hurricane comes, chances are you can stay put. Don't freak out and clog the freeways. That's how things screwed up last time. I put the blame for that squarely on people up there, Cypress, Katy etc. That far inland you're at more risk on the roads than inside. If you're inclined to ignore this piece of advice, then pay attention to this one - go away and stay away. I hope this doesn't come off as too mean, because this only scratches upon my position on this.

If the class 5 hurricane had hit here as it was forecast, you would not want to be here. These trees WILL topple onto houses. I have seen several cases in wind shears. So the advice is not to panic, but be ready to leave if such a hurricane is forecast to come. I left 2 days before the storm was supposed to hit here. That was the last horrible day on the roads and it took me 14 hours to get to Austin. Emergency procedures are much better now, so we should not have such a disaster on the roads the next time. The Woodlands would have experienced 120 MPH winds if the storm had stayed together and followed the highest percentage path. You can place your own logic on this. No homes here have storm roofs like the coast and the roofs will pop off like bottle caps if we have 120 MPH winds. The trees are primarily pines which snap easily in high winds. Some of the oaks will be uprooted by the winds on the top heavy trees. I live in a "straw house", that is, of materials that cannot withstand strong winds. I certainly would not stay here to meet the wolf! I have lived on the coast all my life and have a very strong respect for hurricanes. We played the odds i Corpus Christi one year and found out later that the odds were worse than we had been told. The storm moved in between Houston and Corpus. Our home was two blocks from the water and would have been totally submerged if the storm had hit there. Yes, the chances are relatively small that we will be hit, but all it takes is one and the lights go out forever. In the last storm as it turned out, the storm swerved away earlier than predicted. But that was a crap shot, 7 or 11? We rolled an 8. Pure luck of the throw. Even though we high tailed it out of town, we were glad to be far from the storm. I would repeat that escape in a New York minute given the same circumstances.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Indianspringsguy

If the class 5 hurricane had hit here as it was forecast, you would not want to be here.

If it had hit how it was forecast, lots of people who had to stay wherever they got stranded would have been out in it, a lot of them in conditions worse than what The Woodlands would have had. And why? Because people up there left before they were told to, taking every single one of their cars and SUVs - one vehicle, one driver - loaded with stuff. Doesn't anyone up there have insurance? And those people are blocking the way for people who are really on the coast - I'm Galveston County born and bred, y'see - who are in more danger even if the storm breaks up upon landfall like it did. 99 percent of the time, the far north and west exurbs have very little to get worried about. They have interior, windowless rooms, don't they? If not, what the hell were they thinking when they bought?

These trees WILL topple onto houses. I have seen several cases in wind shears.

This doesn't even necessarily require hurricane force winds. But yes, it's true. Pines are the worst.

So the advice is not to panic, but be ready to leave if such a hurricane is forecast to come. I left 2 days before the storm was supposed to hit here. That was the last horrible day on the roads and it took me 14 hours to get to Austin.

I left at the same time, but knew what was going on along the roads to Austin, so I just went to Spring. I lived in Alvin at the time. Two hours of drive time. Seriously.

Emergency procedures are much better now, so we should not have such a disaster on the roads the next time.

Nobody can plan for panic. People were blaming Bill White when he had no control over people in the far north exurbs emptying out prematurely. Hopefully, if anything, people will realize that this is not New Orleans. Katrina freaked everyone out, especially the transplants who have never seen a hurricane and only read about this stuff and watch it on television.

The Woodlands would have experienced 120 MPH winds if the storm had stayed together and followed the highest percentage path. You can place your own logic on this.

My own logic says that the worst-case Rita scenarios were overplayed for the sake of TV/cable ratings. If a storm is that strong, you have the risk of being in some bad stuff far inland. I actually heard a prediction of Rita being a strong Cat-2 over Dallas.

No homes here have storm roofs like the coast and the roofs will pop off like bottle caps if we have 120 MPH winds. The trees are primarily pines which snap easily in high winds. Some of the oaks will be uprooted by the winds on the top heavy trees. I live in a "straw house", that is, of materials that cannot withstand strong winds.

I'm sorry.

I certainly would not stay here to meet the wolf!

I can't say I blame you, actually.

I have lived on the coast all my life and have a very strong respect for hurricanes.

Galveston County born and bred here. You could say I'm thinking of people who are in more danger than folks in The Woodlands or any such place, in any case.

We played the odds i Corpus Christi one year and found out later that the odds were worse than we had been told. The storm moved in between Houston and Corpus. Our home was two blocks from the water and would have been totally submerged if the storm had hit there. Yes, the chances are relatively small that we will be hit, but all it takes is one and the lights go out forever.

You took a risk, but to be fair, two blocks from the water in Corpus is a totally different animal from The Woodlands.

In the last storm as it turned out, the storm swerved away earlier than predicted. But that was a crap shot, 7 or 11? We rolled an 8. Pure luck of the throw. Even though we high tailed it out of town, we were glad to be far from the storm. I would repeat that escape in a New York minute given the same circumstances.

Life is one big, long crapshoot...BTW, 11 is always a good roll if you're betting with the dice.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by mariposa

The Woodlands is not part of Spring or Conroe. It is an unincorporated area. Parts of Spring butt up against The Woodlands, and Conroe is a short drive north of The Woodlands.

By the way, schools in The Woodlands and those in Conroe belong to the same school district, Conroe ISD.

Spring is also unincorporated... and all of the Spring CDP (as defined by the U.S. government) is in Spring ISD. However some houses with Spring addresses are in Klein ISD and in Conroe ISD.