Collin County: Exploding Growth

(Collin County) — North of Dallas you will find the fast growing county, Collin. In 1970 the total county population was not quite 67,000 and just like most rural places in Texas, it seemed unlikely to become the next major urban center. In 2018, for the first time, the county population surpassed 1 million. The Dallas County population in 2018 was 2,368,139 and Demographers estimate that Collin County will surpass Dallas County by 2050.

Collin County is the nation’s fourth-fastest-growing county. The North Texas Metroplex had the largest numeric growth of any U.S. metropolitan area in the past year. It grew an additional 131,767 in 2018. To understand what has fueled this massive growth, look no further than the boundaries of the City of Dallas. In the past, these suburbs cropped up around Dallas, but today the city leaders are depending on the increase on the tax base through neighborhood gentrification, higher density development and redeveloping. (Information from article “Collin County: The Making of Dallas 2”) Local economic development and business leaders owe the phenomenal growth in Collin to more than taxes, affordability, health care options, schools, public safety or its proximity to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The reason for such a large growth is the prompt presence of large employers, mobility and overall quality of life. These are all very important factors in an area and an enormous part of why so many have decided to move to Collin County. “It’s hard to ignore the significant corporate locations that have come to the North Dallas area as a major contributor to the growth in our region and specifically McKinney,” said Peter Tokar, president/CEO of the McKinney Economic Development Corporation.

“The population boom in McKinney, in my opinion, has to do more with the quality of life that McKinney has to offer. The majority of the development in our city in the past decade has been a broad mixture of residential development,” Tokar said.

In McKinney, Residential growth has outpaced commercial growth. The city has seen thousands of new homes and multi-family communities built in the past decade. The commercial development is gradually ramping up. In 2018, the city’s development services department issued 105 new non-residential building permits, collectively valued at $295.7 million. Much of the new commercial development in McKinney is retail/service industry-oriented, and focused along U.S. 380, an increasingly busy west-east corridor on the city’s north side. “One of the major factors being evaluated in communities for corporate locations is the diversity of housing and availability of executive and workforce housing,” Tokar said. PLANO

Plano is among the top 10 biggest cities in Texas by population size, and 69th largest in the Nation due to the multiple corporate relocations and mixed use projects.

FRISCO

In 1970, Frisco was a small agricultural community. Ron Patterson, Frisco EDC president, said Frisco embraces partnerships with the Frisco Independent School District, developers, corporations and other local organizations to advance economic development. “This approach of partnership allows for a unique approach and results in a win-win for all players, residents and community members that are involved,” Patterson added. There have been many significant corporate relocations that these private/public partnerships have supported.

Frisco has welcomed and supported these seven large mixed use projects as they have contributed to the growth and strength. It is apparent that Collin County is the growth corridor and is perfectly poised for the future. Mixed use projects and corporations is the key for growth and quality community living.

First Plano, then Frisco, Allen, and McKinney. Is Wylie next? The march of urbanization has been inexorable. In effect, Collin County has exploded growth and the opportunities are endless.

Article Written By: Cailyn Dickerson with Daydra Management

Information From: Collin County: The Making of Dallas 2 by Edmond Ortiz and Adolfo Pesquera