It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the number and scope of the City of Tomball’s plans for its future.

The city has no fewer than three development plans listed on its website for users to browse through: the City of Tomball Master Plan for 2007-2017, the Livable Centers Downtown Plan and the Tomball Comprehensive Plan. And that doesn’t even count the city’s Zoning Ordinance, which regulates planned development in its city limits.

If anything, the city could be guilty of over planning, if there is such a thing.

The credit, of course, needs to go the city’s leadership who years ago saw the writing on the wall as the population migration began to move outward from Houston, inching farther north and northwest. Now that population isn’t inching, it’s sprinting, and Tomball appears ready for it.

Members of the Tomball City Council, city staff, the Tomball Economic Development Corporation and the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce, to name the major players, have for years held countless meetings with groups such as TxDOT, H-GAC and professional town planners to help mold and form a place that can adapt to swift growth and change and allocate for rapid population increases while still maintaining their goal of retaining the “Hometown with a Heart” image.

While city planners have conversations with TxDOT and Union Pacific representatives about the prospects of a high-speed light rail system, they will turn around and iron out plans for a community festival at the Depot or parade through downtown.

That kind of forethought and proactive approach is to be applauded.

As Tomball works to establish itself as cutting-edge while maintaining the rural reputation, the City of Magnolia should be moving in a similar direction. Magnolia now is where Tomball was 15 years ago.

Tomball is by no means nearing its residential capacity, but the migration will continue north. Magnolia needs to be prepared.

The biggest problem Magnolia is facing is its own reputation. For years, whether true or not, the city had a nasty reputation for working the “good ol’ boy” system, too often mixing business with friendships and favors.

Many a city resident has been left incredulously shaking their head at the rusty machine of Magnolia politics.

Fortunately, it appears those days may be over. The city has opened its beautiful new Unity Park and The Stroll, while hotly-contested and questioned, gives the town an avenue, literally, to host those much-needed town functions that encourage civic pride.

The news that Magnolia Ridge is finally seeing homes open is also a boost to the city’s economy. It seems as though the new city administration is taking a “bigger picture” approach to planning and development in the city.

The idea some committee members have expressed that such ideas are “too soon” is archaic.

What everyone in Magnolia seems to already know is that the city and the surrounding town have much to offer. Magnolia is a charming little place under good circumstances and a better environment.

As the New Year begins, here’s hoping that Magnolia continues to shed its old image and foster a healthier relationship between its citizens and management. Not doing so could permanently cripple a town with so much to offer.

It’s never too early to plan for the future.

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