Neil Matkin, district president of Collin College (second from right) speaks during “The Future of Collin County” panel discussion at Urban Rio on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in Plano.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Collin County leaders gathered on Tuesday to explore how one of America’s fastest growing regions is keeping up and moving forward. The conversation came as part of a community conversation organized by The Dallas Morning News.
The leaders joined about 75 residents at Urban Rio in downtown Plano. The discussion was moderated by Sarah Blaskovich, The News’ restaurant critic, and came as part of The News’ three-day pop-up newsroom.
“The center of gravity is moving north,” said Blaskovich, who grew up in Plano.
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Speakers including Plano Mayor John Muns, former Frisco Mayor Maher Maso and Gloria Salinas, a senior vice president at Frisco’s economic development corporation, discussed attracting businesses and navigating competition.
Dave Woodyard, CEO of Catholic Charities Dallas, and the Rev. Janet Collinsworth, founder and CEO of Jericho Village, pointed to challenges that the region faces, from affordable housing to healthcare.
Related: Dallas Morning News brings pop-up newsroom to downtown Plano this week
Galen Roberts, director of water resources at the North Texas Municipal Water District, and Neil Matkin, district president of Collin College, spoke on the need for infrastructure to keep up with the rapid growth.
The community conversation was born out of the newsroom’s initiative to build trust. The News invited residents to get to know local journalists covering Dallas-Fort Worth and its future.
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Tough competition
When Maso moved to Frisco in the 1990s, “it was just a farm, dirt roads,” he said. “You couldn’t really buy a pair of socks in the town.” The area added population and jobs, he said, and Frisco looked to Plano as a “big brother.”
“We learned a lot from how they grew,” Maso said.
Now mature cities, Frisco, Plano, Dallas and others compete for businesses and sports franchises — from the Dallas Stars to the Dallas Cowboys, and AT&T to Samsung. But Salinas said “optionality in a region” makes a win for one city a win for the region.
Plano Mayor John Muns speaks during “The Future of Collin County” panel discussion at Urban Rio on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in Plano.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
When compared to areas like Atlanta, Phoenix and Miami, “Dallas-Fort Worth as a region shows stronger,” she said. “That’s why we’re leading the nation in Collin County for job growth … We build off of one another.”
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With added business comes added people. Collin County is adding thousands of new residents each year. “No one’s bringing water with them,” Roberts said.
Leaders need to continue investment in infrastructure to ensure “we’ve got affordable and sustainable water supplies to continue that growth trajectory in the future,” he said.
Filling in the gaps
In Collin County, the median income is about $120,000, but about 30% of the population cannot afford basic necessities despite earning more than the federal poverty level, according to Census data and United For ALICE, a research organization.
Related: As Collin County booms, local leaders are rethinking tax-cutting traditions
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As Collin County grows, it has increasingly had to deal with urban issues it had previously evaded such as homelessness.
“We can drive right by it and never realize it’s there,” Woodyard said of poverty across the county.
Collinsworth pointed to the rise in Plano students who qualify for free and reduced lunches in the last decade as a symptom of widening income inequality in Collin County.
“The growth is fantastic,” Collinsworth said. “But we need to provide for that whole continuum of people who live in Collin County.”
In a question and answer session, Jerry Frankel, a Plano resident since 1985, criticized city leaders for prioritizing tax incentives for corporations over funding programs to expand access to healthcare in a county that doesn’t have a public hospital.
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Gloria Salinas, senior vice president and chief growth officer at Frisco Economic Development Corporation, (center right) speaks during “The Future of Collin County” panel discussion at Urban Rio on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in Plano.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
“People who are working hard jobs have no access to a doctor,” Frankel said. “And cities … give aid to places like Walmart.”
Transit trials
As the county grows, stress on transportation infrastructure is a major concern. The county has put more than $800 million in bond projects on the ballot this November. Over half the projects relate to expanding roads.
Muns said the expansion of roads and highways wouldn’t necessarily reduce traffic because the expansion would incentivize more driving.
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“We could widen Central [Expressway] today with four more lanes on each side and within five years it’ll look like it did about an hour ago,” Muns said.
Rev. Janet Collinsworth, Jericho Village founder and CEO (center), speaks alongside David Woodyard, CEO of Catholic Charities Dallas (left) and Gloria Salinas, senior vice president and chief growth officer at Frisco Economic Development Corporation, during “The Future of Collin County” panel discussion at Urban Rio on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in Plano.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
The Plano mayor advocated for more efficient public transportation in Collin County.
Maso pointed to technology that optimizes traffic signal timing and autonomous vehicles as the future of transportation in the region.
Matkin spoke to the need to come together to solve Collin County’s greatest challenges.
“That kind of collaboration only comes when you’ve got leaders that are smiling at the future, they are willing to join agendas,” he said.
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