Nearly 10 years ago, Houston and Kingwood had a major blowout over the annexation of Kingwood; a lovely community in Northeast Houston. The Woodlands, anticipating the same turbulence, took the initiative recently and gained a foothold in making one of the first master planned communities in the Nation independent from it's neighboring major city; Houston, Texas.

Residents of The Woodlands can officially start their journey into self-governance now that two key legislative bills have passed, making it possible for the community to become a city in the future.

Lawmakers on Tuesday approved the last bill necessary for the master-planned community north of Houston to pursue a new form of governance. - The Houston Chronicle