Blogger’s Note: This item was published initially in the Dallas Morning News as a guest op-ed from … yours truly.
It wasn’t long ago, or so it seems, that few among us knew where to find Princeton, Texas.
My wife and I moved to the Collin County community in February 2019 and my stock answer to the question from asking where we had decided to sink our stakes, “Where is Princeton?” was, “We’re eight miles east of McKinney on U.S. Highway 380.” Then came the knowing nod.
Today, six years later, fewer of us have to ask where one can find Princeton. Because the city has become the fastest-growing city in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Here are some numbers. The 2010 Census pegged Princeton’s population at 6,807 residents. The 2020 Census elevated that number to 17,027 residents, except that the 2020 Census figure was obsolete before they posted the signs entering the city. The Census Bureau estimated the city population to be around 37,000 in 2024. But wait! Newly appointed Princeton City Manager Mike Mashburn estimates the actual population to be well more than 42,000 residents, based on the number of water meters that are online.
So, the city has exploded from 6,807 to more than 42,000 residents in 15 years.
And guess what … it isn’t letting up. Not even a little bit.
You might wonder: Why did we pick Princeton? It’s close to Allen, where our son and his family live, and his family includes our only grandchild. My wife found the subdivision one night while scrolling online. She told me about what she found. We found out the houses for sale were within our price range, we selected a house, we negotiated a deal. It was done! And I don’t regret making our investment in Princeton.
The City Council realized it didn’t have sufficient infrastructure to serve the burgeoning population. It enacted a moratorium in 2024 on new residential construction. The first ban lasted six months. Then the council extended it. The council likely will have to keep extending it until two things happen: It can have infrastructure in place and it completes all the pending building permits the city issued prior to declaring the ban on residential construction.
I am not an urban planner, but I do get a snootful from officials throughout my community about the perils associated with this rapid growth.
The Princeton public school system is in the midst of a building boom to accommodate the thousands of students expected to enroll in Princeton ISD. Superintendent Donald McIntyre rolls his eyes when he talks about the growth, saying he “can’t build these campuses quickly enough.” They open new campuses and learn immediately that they are stuffed beyond capacity. The district installs portable classrooms immediately to accommodate the overflow. Lowe Elementary School was erected in 2020 and installed two portable classrooms during its first year of operation. The district is now building an elementary school near the Lowe campus to give students moving into the neighborhood a second place to attend class.
Two middle schools are under construction and in 2027, PISD plans to start building a second high school … and has purchased land to accommodate a third high school eventually.
McIntyre agrees he’d rather have this problem than the kind facing other districts – such as Keller and Fort Worth ISDs – that are having to close campuses. However, the growth explosion makes projecting student population with any accuracy a virtual impossibility.
How does the city provide infrastructure? It must hire more police officers and firefighters. That process, of course, takes time, given that applicants have to complete certification training before they can suit up and report for duty. The Princeton Fire Department recently opened two new stations to serve the population north of U.S. 380 and farther southwest along Myrick Lane. It recently completed work on a water treatment plant near the western city limit. The police department, last I heard, was more than 30 officers short of what it needs to keep the peace and enforce the law in Princeton. Police Chief Jim Waters has his hands full, too, keeping pace. The city recently voted to cease providing fire protection for residents living in the unincorporated areas around the city because the city must provide coverage for the growing number of residents moving into homes inside the city limits.
On top of all this, Princeton faces is a stunning lack of commercial development. It recently rezoned a 90-acre parcel on the north side of US 380, expecting to break ground on a massive commercial project. No ground has been broken. The growth continues to be almost exclusively residential, with families being lured to Princeton by the relatively inexpensive real estate prices. And the city has struggled with a contractor and a developer who keep fighting while a massive apartment complex along US 380 seemingly – in the middle of construction — sits idle with little progress being made toward its completion.
I need to mention, too, that traffic has become a nightmare around here. The Texas Department of Transportation has laid out grand plans to build a freeway bypass around Princeton. The state’s road crews no doubt will slow traffic along US 380 even more than what is occurring now as the state seeks to divert through-traffic away from US 380 and onto the bypass.
And only God knows when the bypass will get done.
I have wondered on occasion over the years what it would be like to live in a rapidly growing city such as Princeton, Texas. Now I know. It’s not what it is cracked up to be.
The good news is that it eventually will get done. The city will mature fully and will become a place familiar to anyone seeking a place to call home. I hope I live long enough to enjoy it.