The Colony, Texas
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| The Colony, Texas | |||
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| Nickname: "City by the Lake" | |||
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| County | Denton County | ||
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| Mayor | John Dillard | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 40.8 km² | ||
| - Land | 35.4 km² | ||
| - Water | 5.4 km² | ||
| Population | |||
| - City (2000) | 26,531 | ||
| - Density | 749.9 persons/km² | ||
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) | ||
| Website: http://www.thecolonytx.gov/ | |||
The Colony is a city in Denton County, Texas, United States. The population was 26,531 at the 2000 census. 2005 population estimates put the city closer to 33,000 people.
The Colony is home to the 5 Star Athletic Complex, which was completed in 2005. The Colony was named the Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary Sports Town in that same year. The city is home to Pizza Inn's corporate headquarters, as well as an Edward Don distribution center and a variety of small and medium-sized businesses.
Located on the southeast side of the city, across State Highway 121 from most of the city, is Austin Ranch, a mixed-use development consisting of retail businesses, apartments and condominiums.
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[edit] History
The site of The Colony is located inside the original Peters Colony lands, on the site of the Hedgcoxe War.
The city of The Colony did not exist before 1969, when home developers Fox and Jacobs (owned by Centex) purchased most of the land located around State Highway 121 and Farm-to-Market Road 423. They planned the development of a new "dream city" modeled after the city of Dallas, consisting primarily of single family homes grouped as a "colony". The homes were served by a municipal utility district formed to bring water, electricity (via Texas Power and Light), cable television (via Lakeside CATV) and telephone service (via Southwestern Bell).
In 1976, one of the original homeowners associations petitioned the city of Frisco, Texas to remove the area from its extra-territorial jurisdiction. A vote was held in January 1977, and the City of The Colony was officially incorporated at that time (the name Colony was already in use, and thus the current name with the definitive article was chosen).
[edit] Politics
The Colony is considered a Home Rule municipality with the council-manager form of government. It has a six-member council, with two members elected at large, as well as a city Mayor.
[edit] Council Members
| Name | Place | Term Expires |
|---|---|---|
| John Dillard | Mayor | May 2009 |
| Allen Harris | One (at-large) | May 2009 |
| John Marshall | Two (at-large) | May 2009 |
| Joseph McCourry | Three | May 2008 |
| Kirk Mikulec | Four | May 2008 |
| Perry Schrag | Five | May 2008 |
| Joel Marks | Six | May 2008 |
[edit] Relations with Frisco, Texas
Since its incorporation, The Colony has had an uneasy association with its nearby neighbor, Frisco.
Both cities were part of a lawsuit in the early 1980s contesting the validity of a Texas law allowing so-called strip annexations of land, whereby a city incorporates tiny slivers of land reaching other, larger areas. Frisco annexed the majority of land to the north and east of The Colony, cutting off the smaller city's future growth prospects. Another notable lawsuit by The Colony against Frisco and the North Texas Municipal Water District concerns Frisco not allowing The Colony access to its right-of-way so The Colony could use a jointly-owned wastewater treatment plant.
[edit] Geography
The Colony is located at (33.090874, -96.884659)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 40.8 km² (15.7 mi²). 35.4 km² (13.7 mi²) of it is land and 5.4 km² (2.1 mi²) of it (13.15%) is water.
The city is bordered on the west by Lewisville Lake and Lewisville, Texas, on the north and east by Frisco, Texas and on the south by Carrollton, Texas and Plano, Texas. Approximately 23 miles of shoreline on Lake Lewisville are contained within the city's boundaries (the basis for the city's motto "City by the Lake"), including two peninsulas.
[edit] Education
All of The Colony is located inside the Lewisville Independent School District which has built six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school inside city limits. The elementary schools are Peters Colony Elementary, Camey Elementary, B.B. Owen Elementary, Stewart's Creek Elementary, Ethridge Elementary, and Morningside Elementary. The two middle schools are Griffin Middle School and Lakeview Middle School. The Colony High School is located just north of SH 121 on Blair Oaks Drive and is known as "the home of the Cougars."
Owing to its original history as part of Frisco, The Colony is located inside the Collin County Community College District, unlike all other places in Denton County. However, since residents of The Colony do not pay taxes to said district they must pay out-of-county tuition rates to attend Collin County Community College.
[edit] Future growth
Large areas of undeveloped land remain inside The Colony, and are in the process of being developed by their owners. In the near future, a marina is due to be developed by MarineQuest Corporation at the city's Hidden Cove Park, and two residential/mixed-use developments are planned along State Highway 121 and on Wynnwood Penninsula on Lewisville Lake. The completion of the conversion of Highway 121 from a four-lane rural highway to a six-lane tollway is expected to bring additional business to the city's main transportation corridor.
In spite of the potential for growth, a high property tax rate and current development heavily balanced towards residential ownership present continuing challenges for The Colony. In addition, the city faces steep competition from not only Frisco, but from the cities of Lewisville, Carrollton and Plano, who have annexed most of the remaining vacant land around The Colony.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 26,531 people, 8,462 households, and 7,141 families residing in the city. The population density was 749.9/km² (1,942.1/mi²). There were 8,812 housing units at an average density of 249.1/km² (645.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.46% White, 5.18% African American, 0.71% Native American, 1.68% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 5.30% from other races, and 2.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.26% of the population.
There were 8,462 households out of which 53.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.7% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.6% were non-families. 11.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.14 and the average family size was 3.41.
In the city the population was spread out with 34.0% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 38.0% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 2.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $64,080, and the median income for a family was $66,203. Males had a median income of $44,208 versus $30,530 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,903. About 1.6% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Local government links
- City of The Colony, TX website
- The Colony Police Department
- GIS mapping system, provided by the city of The Colony
- Chamber of Commerce for The Colony
- Denton County, Texas
- Lewisville Independent School District
[edit] External links
- ilovethecolony.com, a city booster site with some local news content
- ilovethecolony.net, a satirical website based on The Colony
- InTheColony.com, a popular city forum
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
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