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Katy, Texas

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Katy is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The city is located partially in the counties of Fort Bend, Waller, and Harris. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Katy's population was 11,775.

Location of Katy, Texas
Location of Katy, Texas

Overview

Katy is named for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (commonly referred to as the "K-T Railroad", now a part of Union Pacific) that ran through Katy in the 19th century. Katy was once known as Cane Island. The name is derived from Cane Island Creek which runs just west of downtown. Cane Creek is a branch of Buffalo Bayou. The origins of the name Cane Island are believed to be from the fact that Katy was once a major sugar cane producer. The Houston suburb's prime attraction is the Katy Mills Mall. A secondary attraction is an unusual outdoor museum of Chinese culture and history called the Forbidden Gardens.

Katy has become one of the fastest growing suburbs in Houston. Katy's country charm mixed with its master planned communities, acclaimed Katy ISD, current and future shopping centers, and residents has made it a popular Houston area suburb. Katy boasts several shopping centers, among them are the following: its main shopping center is The Katy Mills Mall; one that is partially complete, LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch; and two that will be completed in the future, The Village of Katy, a shopping and business center, and the West Grand Promenade, that is being developed by Simon Property Group.

Katy is home to the Igloo Corporation, an internationally-known manufacturer of cooling and portable refrigeration products. Igloo Corporation consolidated all of their operations in Katy in 2003. Katy is also home to Prairie's End Woodcrafts, founded in 1984, which supplies unique Texas wood to wood workers and produces finished artistic wood products.

Geography

Katy is located at 29°47′33″N 95°49′21″W / 29.79250°N 95.82250°W / 29.79250; -95.82250Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (29.792582, -95.822436)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.6 km² (10.7 mi²). None of the area is covered with water.

Katy vs. Katy area

Katy residents often split the city into two informal sections: "Old Katy" (or Katy Proper) and "Katy Area". Old Katy is basically the actual city limits of Katy and lies for the most part north of Interstate 10. This is the original Katy from before the 1970s when Houston's Energy Corridor (and the development that came with it) made its way west on I-10.

The "Katy area" is made up of large sections of unincorporated Harris and Fort Bend counties and for the most part sits east and southeast of the city limits of Katy. This area is within the Katy Independent School District and nearly everyone in this area has a Katy postal address.

The Katy area includes new upscale developments and master planned communities such as Cinco Ranch, Wood Creek Reserve, Grayson Lakes, Seven Meadows, Firethorne and Grand Lakes, while also encompassing developments from the 1970s and 1980s such as Memorial Parkway, Kelliwood and Nottingham Country. All of the "Katy area" lies in the city of Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), not Katy's ETJ. This means that the areas of "Katy area" are controlled by the city of Houston and the city has the ability to annex it in the future. The city of Katy cannot annex this area unless the city of Houston releases the area's ETJ to Katy, which has occurred in several small chunks in recent years. The most recent instance of this was in 2001 when Houston ceded about 400 acres (1.6 km²) of ETJ to the City of Katy to allow the Katy Mills Mall and surrounding parking lot to be built entirely within the City of Katy.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,775 people in "Old Katy", 3,888 households, and 3,083 families residing in the city. The population density was 426.1/km² (1,103.7/mi²). There were 4,072 housing units at an average density of 147.3/km² (381.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.98% White, 4.24% African American, 0.56% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 8.65% from other races, and 2.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.75% of the population. Also, there is a small Muslim community represented by the Katy Islamic Association. [1][2]

There were 3,888 households out of which 45.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.9% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.7% were non-families. 17.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.37.

A refuge for hurricane victims

The Katy area absorbed several thousand evacuees in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. No attempt has been made to get an accurate count of how many evacuees from Louisiana and Mississippi are in the region; however, the Katy Independent School District reported on September 7, 2005 that they had received 1,161 new students in the district as a result of the hurricane. Mayor Doyle Callender in a Houston Chronicle interview on September 14, 2005 estimated there are 3,000 to 4,000 evacuees in the Katy area shelters while 500 of those are in shelters within the Katy city limits.

There are likely thousands more in permanent housing units throughout the Katy area. One of the primary reasons why Katy absorbed such a large number of Hurricane Katrina evacuees is its location on Interstate 10, the major east-west artery through the area and direct feeder route of evacuees from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi. Nobody in the mandatory evacuations in the aftermath of the storm was evacuated to the Katy area initially; however, a small number of evacuees originally housed in the Reliant Astrodome in Houston were bussed into the Katy area several days after their arrival in the Texas Gulf Coast region.

List of mayors

  • Dan Cox (1971-1979)
  • John G. Morrison (1979-1983)
  • Johnny Nelson (1983-1987)
  • Ward A. Stanberry (1988-1991)
  • J.W. "Skip" Conner (1991-1995)
  • M.H. "Hank" Schmidt (1995-2001)
  • Doyle G. Callender (2001-2007)
  • Don Elder Jr. (2007-present)


Notable residents

This list includes people both from the City of Katy as well as the Greater Katy area:

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Pupils who live in Katy are zoned to schools in Katy Independent School District.

Three elementary schools, all in the city of Katy, serve Katy residents:

The following middle schools serve City of Katy residents:

All high school aged students in the City of Katy are zoned to Katy High School

Many homes in unincorporated Fort Bend, Harris, or Waller counties which have Katy addresses are served by other schools in Katy ISD.

Colleges and universities

Katy is served by the Houston Community College System.

Public libraries

Katy is served by the Katy Branch of Harris County Public Library.

Sports

The Katy Ruff Riders of the Intense Football League play at the Katy ISD's Leonard E. Merrell Center.

The Katy Tigers of Katy High School have won 4 state football titles (1959, 1997, 2000, 2003) and are widely supported by the local community.

Community information

The Katy Family YMCA is located in nearby Cinco Ranch in unincorporated Fort Bend County. The YMCA was formerly named after Ken Lay, due to his having given an endowment of over $1 million. Soon after the Enron scandal began, the YMCA, since removing the name was undoable due to the financial help Lay provided, reduced the name, "Ken Lay" to approximately one-fourth the size it was before. In June 2006 Lay asked for his money to be returned in the wake of his legal trouble surrounding the Enron Scandal; consequently his name was removed and the YMCA was renamed the Katy Family YMCA.

Retail centers are springing up all throughout Katy to accommodate the rapid residential growth. The major retail growth is now being focused on the fast growing Katy Fort Bend Rd. near the east entrance to the Katy Mills shopping mall.

Postal service

The United States Postal Service operates the Katy Post Office at 20180 Park Row Drive in unincorporated Harris County (Katy address), 77449-9998.


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