Business View Civil and Municipal | April 2021

40 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL ARIL 2021 BAYTOWN, TEXAS answering the needs of affordable housing. This accommodates professionals who service the plants. They’re here for several months, then leave. We like to think that in Baytown there is something for everyone.” Welcoming everyone to the community means ensuring proper education and workforce training for future generations. In that regard, Baytown maintains strong relationships with the Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District (GCCISD) and Lee College, the local community college. Within its high schools, GCCISD hosts Career Academies, which prepare students in a specific field. Davis describes it as “a college within a high school” with options ranging from global business to manufacturing & industrial maintenance. He adds, “Lee College is a national leader in disciplines relating to Gulf Coast area industries. We’re happy to have two wonderful educational partners in our community. Our industry partners have been supportive; viewing them as the future lifeline.” Baytown’s successful partnerships also extend to development, specifically TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park. Davis states, “We have a very good relationship. They’re one of the world’s ideal community to live and its population of 90,000 is rapidly rising. Currently, there are approximately 5,000 homes being developed and more room to grow. Davis asserts, “Like other Texas communities, Baytown benefits from the Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ). This is a boundary surrounding our 34 square miles of incorporated area. We still have control over this ETJ even though it’s unincorporated. Baytown pushes out three and half miles in every direction from our incorporated area. If you draw a line there, that’s our ETJ of another 34 miles. Altogether, we have 68 square miles. We have room to develop in our north and under our current future land use plan, we could easily reach a population of 200,000.” The residential areas in development are mostly planned unit developments (PUD), which incorporate various uses like recreation and commercial centers. There are also mixed- use developments, which Davis reports, “marry various elements to create live, work, and play environments instead of your run-of-the-mill single-family home (SFH) subdivisions. Our luxury style apartments with laundry facilities, pool, and garage answer the lifestyle desires of a rising generation, rather than simply