Texas Girl

Texas Girl here. Like my fellow bloggers, I am New To Atlanta, I'm pretty sure that I've already said that, but unlike Amy and Small Town Girl, I am from farther away. In the 1980s, The Woodlands Texas was formed by the Woods family. They not only made a city, but a home for more than 500,000 people. The Woodlands was--no, is-- my home.

The Woodlands is relatively small in comparison to the larger Houston that shadows my home. We have a "down town," an old part of town, and a new. Downtown consists of Mall Ring and Market Street. Mall Ring is the literal ring that runs around the local mall and restaurants that surround it. The photo above is of our downtown; it was found via Google-Images and has a copy write from John F Hark. That's the tallest building in The Woodlands! All the top stores are there! We've got everything from Gymboree to New York and Company to Macy's. Not only do we have shops, restaurants, child care, department stores, but we even have a Children's Museum! This is great because when mom's go shopping with their kids, they can just stop by and educate their children. Right across from the mall there's Market Street. That's what gives our city a small town feel. There, you can walk to every store and talk to the people. Small stores and boutiques line the pedestrian-friendly streets and sidewalks while shoppers stop at local Mom-and-Pop restaurants and home-made jewelry stores. It's odd because Market Street, the most home-town-ish place in The Woodlands was built most recently out of all the villages. There's also the Boardwalk where the river runs through the area, and it's surrounded by the newest restaurants and bars. This area was made to attract to the younger population. No the sixteen and seventeen year-olds, but the people in their twenties who don't necessarily have families.

That's another thing about The Woodlands it's full of "bad sprawl." There's lots of room between each house, and there's always plenty of room for kids to play in the front yards, back yards, and in the streets. In The Woodlands, you can find anything from small one bedroom homes to larger 50,000 square-foot mansions. Not only are there dozens of different types of houses, but there are also apartments. Like the homes, apartments range in size, price, and style. The newest apartments, the Boardwalk, are right there on the Boardwalk of the waterway. The Boardwalk apartments attract more to those same people who enjoy going around the Downtown area. Living at these apartments makes sense if you enjoy going around Downtown because there really isn't any public transportation there. There's a Water Taxi that can take you from the Library around to the different parts of Downtown. The bus can only take you from East Shore (a neighborhood that embodies both old-fashioned manor houses to new row-homes) to Market Street and Mall Ring.

A lot of people know each other, but not all that much, because people are so diverse the really only common ground is that about fifty percent of the people's families are in the oil industry. A lot of people go to private school because if you work for Exon, and you're not from the states, than Exon Mobile will pay for your children's education and you're home. It's really interesting.

Unlike Amy, there are stop lights everywhere! Traffic too! You learn to avoid the heavy-traffic areas, and you most definitely take into account the time of day when you travel. Rush hours are generally between 7:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m., 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 a.m., and from 5:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. That's usually when people are going to and from school and work during the morning, lunch, and dinner.

Anyways, I should probably get going. Like always, have a great day,

Texas Girl (Katy S.)