Lifestyle

True to George Mitchell’s vision, The Woodlands has become a self-contained city – a place to live, play, work and worship. On offer is an enormous range of choice for dining and shopping, including some of best known names in cuisine and some of the fashion world’s most luxurious brands. And as the name suggests, there are endless hiking trails, parks and recreational facilities and a calendar of regular sporting, entertainment and art events. There are places of worship representing a wide range of religious beliefs. Add to all that a comprehensive selection of medical facilities and the greatest challenge to living in The Woodlands is finding a reason to venture outside of this tree-lined paradise.

Restaurants

Shopping

Parks and Leisure

Events

Worship

Hotels

An important part of George Mitchell’s original vision was to attract first-class medical research, centers, doctors, hospitals and other companies to The Woodlands, creating a true miniature city in which people could live, work and play. In 1982, Houston Advanced Research Center announced plans for a research campus and initial building in The Woodlands – hence the Research Forest area was established. By 1998, one million square feet of commercial space was underway with major companies soon renting from the development or buying property to build their own facilities. Today,The Woodlands is home to several Bio-Tech companies as well as many other businesses in a variety of industries, many of which have established their home office here. Some of these companies include, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Huntsman, Chevron Phillips, Conn’s, Occidental Petroleum, Hughes Christensen, and Aon Hewitt. Just to the south of The Woodlands is the corporate headquarters for Exxon Mobil – a 20-story building, 3 million square foot, 385 acre corporate campus which houses over 10,000 employees. The Dallas campus will be joining The Woodlands campus in 2023.

The early success of The Woodlands brought about the fulfillment of another part of Mitchell’s vision – in 1985,The Woodlands Hospital (now Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center) opened. In 2003, CHI St. Luke’s Health – The Woodlands Hospital opened its doors, followed by Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands in 2016 and Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital in 2017. Along with these major hospitals, there is a branch of M.D. Anderson on the campus of CHI St. Luke’s as well as a breast imaging center in Memorial Hermann hospital. Add to this several small clinics, medical centers housing a variety of specialists, and emergency clinics scattered throughout, and The Woodlands truly has become home to world-class medical facilities where residents can get treatment for all types of ailments.

In 1993, The Woodlands Mall construction began, paving the way for the growth of the Town Center, which had always been viewed as an area for retail and restaurants – a major regional center to serve the residential villages of The Woodlands as well as the surrounding areas. Major additions included Tinseltown Cinema in 1996, followed in 1999 by plans for The Woodlands Waterway. In 2002, The Woodlands Waterway Marriott and Convention Center opened on the edge of the new Waterway canal. Market Street opened in 2004, along with the first owner-occupied residences in The Woodlands Town Center. In 2005, the first residences were available in East Shore, considered by many to be the “crown jewel” of The Woodlands. East Shore is the only Woodlands enclave to have its own community center, pool, and security. Many of the homes have water views of Lake Woodlands.

In 2013, The Woodlands started construction on another major commercial/retail center – Hughes Landing – which includes high-end apartments, many fabulous restaurants along Restaurant Row, a large Whole Foods Market and other retail outlets. Today the Town Center is a vibrant, urban, mixed-use, pedestrian and transit-friendly downtown- style area. It contains office as well as retail, cultural and recreational venues, providing a great resource for residents and attracting a variety of visitors to the area. Today, over 75% of the sales tax receipts in The Woodlands come from non-residents.