Over the next 20 years, the city of Manvel says there will be 10,000 new homes.
Susan Koshy has lived in Sedona Lakes for about three years.
"It's quiet," she said.
She is, like many, choosing Manvel to call home. In part, because of its proximity to downtown and the Texas Medical Center.
"As we are getting old, we cannot drive!" Koshy said.
Sedona Lakes is one of nine subdivision currently under construction or in development in and around Manvel.
The city expects that will mean over 10,000 homes built in the next 15 to 20 years. That's a population explosion for the city which is currently home to just 8,000 people.
"Ironically they say in 20 years we'll have over 130,000 people here," Manvel Mayor Delores Martin said.
Martin says this development has been in planning for years. It was slowed by the economy in 2008. There's plenty of room to build -- 40 Square miles if you consider Manvel's city limits and the land it could one day annex. And about half of it, city leaders say, is undeveloped. The mayor says that's much of the allure for folks who don't want "city life."
"They're tired of living in a congested city. We are a zoned city. Houston is not," Martin said.
All the people will mean more congestion though, and that's worrisome for folks who already call this home.
"As long as you're out here, the traffic isn't too bad. If you have to go into Houston, it's a nightmare," Manvel resident Fred Box said.
There is a plan to alleviate some of that traffic there on Highway 288. A toll road is in the works, and if things go as planned, it could be under construction next year.
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