Will The Woodlands Become It's Own City?

Early voting begins today to decide whether or not to leave The Woodlands as it is as a township, or to incorporate it as it's own city.

The measure will be on the ballot for November 2nd, a rare odd year for voting. Some say it was done on purpose with the hopes of low voter turn-out.

As for the two sides of the issue, Jim Carman, president of the Houston region of the Howard Hughes Corporation, the group that wants The Woodlands to remain the same says there's no need to change anything.

"It's the #1 place to live in America according to Niche.com" Carman told KTRH, "It's the biggest decision that's ever faced the residents, and it's the wrong decision at this time. There's no reason to push for incorporation, we are the #1 place to be and we don't think that anything is truly broken that needs to be fixed."

For the group that wants The Woodlands to become a city, they say it's time for the people of The Woodlands to make the decisions, not big land developers.

Gordy Bunch, who is the chairman of the Woodlands township board of directors told KTRH, "What you're really doing is you're transferring authority away from the city of Houston, the city of Conroe, Harris County, Montgomery County, and you're creating the city of The Woodlands."

Critics say it would cost residents too much to pay for everything. But Bunch says that's a bunch of..."It's a pretty unique opportunity for our residents to write The Woodlands constitution. Where else can you as a community of 118,000 people write the rules for your own local government?"

Either way, Jim Carman just wants people to get out and vote. "Hopefully people get out to vote" Carman told KTRH, "The more we can get out the better, this is the most important decision that's ever been made in The Woodlands, and the people need to make that decision not just a small minority of the voters."