Citizens For Missouri City's Future

It's Official: Missouri City CNN #56 Best Places to Live

We're not the only one to recognize that Missouri City is a great place to WORK   LIVE    PLAY

CNN's Money Best 100 Places to live ranks us 56.

56.  Missouri City, TX

WINNER

Top 100 rank: 56
Population: 73,600
Compare Missouri City to Top 10 Best Places

The land now claimed as Missouri  City  was once advertised for sale in  St. Louis as "a land of genial sunshine and eternal summer." The  Houston  suburb catches plenty of rays (and humidity) to match.

Located just southwest of Houston, this former bedroom    community is growing into its own place with a combination of rapid commercial development and still underdeveloped land.

Families enjoy the several master planned residential communities and parks and an acclaimed school district.

The above is the caption from the story, but go see for yourself!

Scroll to Number 64 to see our nearest neighbor.

Eminent Domain: A Different Game

The hearing for Eminent Domain of the Quail Valley properties has been scheduled for June 24th. While community interest is extremely important to show, this is a judicial process, not political, so it has a different set of rules.

During House Bill 3232, writing letters, testifying, and applying influence and pressure were part of the political process. As homeowners we stayed vigilant and prepared at every juncture of the process of passing the law through committees, House, Senate and Governor's signature. Educating the legislators on what was different about homeowners' rights in a master planned community and separating legitimate developers from speculators was part of the process.

A judicial process is different. Undue influence can actually compromise what is considered a deliberative process. During the process the lawyers present the evidence and respond to each juncture according to judicial rules. We can't offer testimony. Sending letters might actually have the opposite impact of making the Commissioners feel pushed when their job is to look at the evidence.

That said, quiet, community support can show interest. We just have to remember this is a judicial, not a political process. The skills we learned in HB 3232 don't directly apply anymore.

The first hearing will be held Tuesday, June 24th at  9:00  AM.  The hearing will be at 1522 Texas Parkway: it will either be in Council Chambers or in the Community Center (for more of the public to attend).

For more information on the Eminent Domain process, press here.

The Future Group strongly supports Eminent Domain for the Quail Valley Properties to stabilize the property values of 11,000+ homes and provide park, golf, water, and multi-purpose recreation for all of Missouri City.

Strategically this space preserves green and open space in a community that is rapidly developing. Open space and quality of life amenities keep Missouri City a "we'd like to live here" community.

Future Group Hosts Realtors

On May 1, The Future Group hosted a group of area Realtors(R) who sell homes in Missouri City. Long-time Realtor Sandy MacNaughton chaired the event at Colony Creek Church on Highway 6. The Realtors(R) were welcomed by Future Group President Floyd Emery.

Joined by Missouri City Police Chief Ron Echols and Code and Building Enforcement Coordinator Mike Fogarty, a lively question and answer session ensued facilitated by Janice Scanlan.

Themes Realtors(R) emphasized:

• Getting positive stories in the media, particularly the Chronicle.
• Having more events that bring people to Missouri City (several mentioned the Quail Valley Backyard Garden Tour) and highlight positives of the area.
• Continuing to move Missouri City to more business friendly policies, but being tough on businesses that don't follow codes.
• Community Appearance. Realtors(R) were delighted with the Cartwright Rendering by Civic Design Associates and urged moving forward with plans regarding the former tennis center and the Quail Valley Properties and communicating progress.
• Schools.
• Easier ways to obtain information and for new families to get settled in a home.
• Better communicating how safe Missouri City is compared with our neighboring cities.
• Having more events such as this one for interchange and ideas.

The Realtors signed up to be on a Future Group mailing list, and we are already tracking on some rumors. The Future Group plans to host another event and make some modifications to our website that will help Realtors present a factual, positive story of the exciting growth Missouri City is experiencing.

ETJs: Are They Important to Missouri City?

Extraterritorial Jurisdictions (ETJs) are unincorporated areas around a municipality. They don’t pay city property taxes. If you’re a city taxpayer and property owner, you likely care about this issue. And it might be easy to conclude that unincorporated areas take Missouri City services, but don't pay.

That was true in the 1960’s when federal legislation was enacted to protect cities from growing suburbs that did not pay taxes through establishing annexation procedures and buffers around cities—ETJ’s. Agreements between cities and ETJ’s have matured considerably since the 1960’s.

For example, two of our larger ETJs, Sienna Plantation and Riverstone pay  Missouri  City for the fire services and any other service we provide. Currently police services are provided by Fort Bend County, and water and sewer services and debts from them are paid by the homeowners through Municipal Utilities Districts.

It’s to  Missouri City's  advantage not to annex these areas in the short term and assume this debt. That’s why, according to a tax comparison prepared by the City of Conroe, Missouri City has one of the lowest debt ratios of any like municipality, and that includes  Sugar  Land.  For example, the City of Houston waited until the past several years to annex the Woodlands from its ETJ.

So what do ETJs contribute besides political fodder?

Many Realtors(R) have told us that many buyers want new homes. The ETJ’s have kept a supply of new homes in the ETJ of Missouri City—where there are large areas of land for master-planned communities.

To place this in perspective the two major ETJ developments of Riverstone and Sienna Plantation will double the size of  Missouri City  when built out. Commercial developments don’t care whether they are ETJ or not. They count rooftops.

That’s where the potential is to lower property taxes more quickly. It’s through the growth the ETJs pull along Highway 6 that is already in  Missouri  City.

Moreover, the commercial portion of Missouri City Revenue grew from 15.17% in 2004 to 18.95% in 2007. Much more growth is projected. Some of this growth might even help us pay for revitalization efforts on Texas Parkway and Cartwright as well as other quality of life improvements.                    

Bottom line, the ETJs are a win-win proposition for  Missouri  City and Missouri City  residents. They contribute revenue through attracting quality growth.

(This article has also appeared in the Fort Bend Independent.)

 

Results of Texas Parkway / Cartwright Corridor

by Janice Scanlan

The Texas Parkway / Cartwright Corridor Study exceeded my expectations in its comprehensive nature by  setting up 4 "zones"

• Employment zone where existing and developing "companies that bring jobs" are already locating near the Sam Houston Toll Road and Buffalo Run Park
• A town center to serve the employment center with dining, services, the Library, City Hall, "town living" and entertainment  (just south of City Hall and the Library--rendering below)
• A service center that was medically oriented near Texas Parkway and Cartwright
• An activity center that could build on already existing plans for tennis, fitness, shuffleboard, basketball, skateboard as well as dancing, cards, and activities like a Farmer's Market at the former tennis center on Cypress Point near Cartwright.

Civic Design Associates and George Johnson Development really provided some exciting possibilities. They have already started talking with investors, business owners in the corridor about them and provided three year actions and longer term actions as well.

The study pointed out we need a mix of housing, shopping and pedestrian friendly neighborhoods in Missouri City—and more places to work as well as live. The one thing all their designs had in common were open areas to mingle and walk with trees and nature incorporated into perhaps a denser cityscape—like we’re starting to experience in  Missouri City.

It can be ugly or “we’d like to live here.”  Their concepts used what  "we liked"  very effectively in my opinion. I'll be showing these things, but I have to make them "web friendly."  I'll tempt you with how they envisioned Cartwright. An "ahhhhhh" emitted from the audience!

Demographic trends of young professionals and "empty nesters" preferring apartments (not conventional apartments, but more multi-use use spaces with second and third floor apartments and town homes) that are incorporated with shopping, food buying and "walking" for services was part of the "town center."

And "town center" by City Hall might look like this rendering. (click on the either image to enlarge them). City Hall and the library are in pale yellow on the lower right side of the image.

What I liked about the study is it did not "pit" one area of the city against another. It acknowledged that Highway 6 rents will be higher and that 6 will pull different kinds of properties--not take away from the corridors. It demonstrated we had the right stuff (business development and strong area demographics) that could attract brand names to choose these corridors and Missouri City. The key was ensuring the large open parcels were planned and not chipped away piecemeal so we got more of the same (or nothing). By showing us the numbers, we saw some practical strategies to change the corridors.

One of the reasons Missouri City is doing "all this planning" and looking at what we used to take for granted: mature trees, lakes and open space is to ensure we continue to be a "we'd like to live here city!"

Preserving Quail Valley open space is part of these plans and complements "the activity center."  So is long-term planning for aging infrastructure and green trails throughout the city. Look at the Cartwright rendering -- "the walls" are  made friendly and appealing. Those kinds of initiatives create a livable city.

In my opinion the economic development along Highway 6 and the substantial rise in sales tax revenue alone has allowed Missouri City the revenue to really do this kind of professional planning and visioning. It will also help us have the money to put these plans into action. Let's be serious you don't decrease taxes, increases services and revitalize by just saying it can be done.

We have to invest in Quality of Life to continue to be a "we'd like to live here city." That keeps us strong today so that we can grow tomorrow.

I applaud Missouri City Council, Mayor and City Management for providing us this wonderful glimpse of the future. I'll be writing more to fully explain and show the beautiful renderings and plans, but they need to be explained in writing and there are only so many hours a day. I hope I've whetted your appetite for more.

Location, Location, Location

An old real estate joke is the top reasons for buying a property is location, location, location. And, by the way, did I mention location?

After reading the April 13, Sunday Business Section of the Chronicle, I was frankly confused at what the home price statistics might or might not mean to prospective home buyers and sellers. So, instead of trying to make sense out of something I had no raw data to interpret, I asked long-time Fort Bend Realtor(R) Sandy MacNaughton.

Her first statement was "Real Estate" is not an exact science, and it changes.  You need to compare apples to apples. That's why comparables on a home with homes like it include location, square footage, bathrooms, 1 or 2 story, pool, type of lot, etc. These comparisons and the condition of the home begin to make pricing meaningful--and it can change in six months. For example, in one area the price range of homes could be between $150,000 and $300,000. That is entirely too broad to make a meaningful comparison.

Consequently, broad figures may show an overall trend or event in a neighborhood, but little more. Many Realtors (R) also consider, in addition to price, whether homes are selling, time to sell, and inventories.

Missouri City is still an attractive community because of our close in location and other mobility factors--throughout Missouri City.

So really the overall perception of a neighborhood and the risk involved buying there become important. Sandy cited the example of the DISC golfers attending the Texas State Tournament liking the Quail Valley neighborhood as an example of positive perception or "we'd like to live here."

Sandy provided some figures that indicate whether the market is moving. We still have a solid market in  Missouri City with homes selling, sales pending and  between a 4 to 6  months listing inventory depending  on  location.  Huh, it seems we've heard that location word before.

We'd Like to Live Here . . .

We'd like to live here . . . to any homeowner in Missouri City that's music to our ears. That's the emotion that pushes people to buy, not just look. To want something, not just settle for it.

In Quail Valley this past week end, we had the Texas State Tournament for DISC Golf--that's "Frisbee" to me, but these putter and driver "discs" are not your average Frisbee. The skill to play the game is pretty impressive as well. We had disc golfers not only from Texas, but also from Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Turkey. Yes, the country. Go figure.

I was giving one of these young men directions, when he offered, We've been talking among ourselves. We think your neighborhood is awesome. The houses are distinctive, the trees are great. We'd like to live here.

While it may be a few years before home buying becomes a reality, it's interesting that was a conversation among young men.

That's what open space, trees, water and something different could mean to all of Missouri City. Let's make it  happen!

Incidentally, you can view some of these distinctive backyards on April 26 from 10 AM to 4 PM. To learn more about the Quail Valley Backyard Garden Tour, press here to learn more and see the beautiful backyards.