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What do you think of Sugar Land?
By gabesemenza in Crowdsourcing
September 16, 2009

I'm starting work on a story that looks at the pros and cons of zoning and master-planned communities.

Today, I visited with Regina Morales, a Victoria native who works with the Sugar Land Economic Development Corp.

I learned a great deal about Sugar Land, which was founded as a sugar plantation in the 1820s. Imperial Sugar, Texas' oldest company to remain rooted in the same spot, provided its workers schools, housing and hospitals. In 1959, Sugar Land, the city, emerged for the first time. The Imperial Cattle Ranch sold 1,500 acres to a developer, who created a nearby master-planned community. The city then incorporated much of the community's standards -- deed restrictions and building requirements, for example -- that paved the way for its uniqueness today.

From 1990 to 2000, Sugar Land's population grew from 24,000 to 62,000. Obviously, people who appreciate well-planned communities flocked to the Houston suburb.

All the while, the city's tax rate declined each year for 11 years.

The story I'm working on will discuss the pros and cons of zoning, which Sugar Land incorporates.

By contrast, Victoria lacks zoning. I'll look at the pros and cons of this approach, too.

In the meantime, what are your thoughts?

Thanks for your help,

Gabe Semenza / Advocate public service editor