Frisco, Texas


Frisco is a city in Collin and Denton counties in Texas. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is approximately from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The city population was 116,989 at the 2010 census. The 2019 Census estimate placed the city population at 200,490. Frisco was the fastest-growing city in the United States in 2017, and also the fastest-growing city in the nation from 2000 to 2009. In the late 1990s, the northern Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex suburban development tide hit the northern border of Plano and spilled into Frisco, sparking rapid growth into the 2000s. Like many of the cities in the northern suburbs of Dallas, Frisco serves as a bedroom community for professionals who work in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Since 2003, Frisco has received the designation Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation.

History

When the Dallas area was being settled by American pioneers, many of the settlers traveled by wagon trains along the Shawnee Trail. This trail became the Preston Trail, and later, Preston Road. With all of this activity, the community of Lebanon was founded along this trail, and was granted a U.S. post office in 1860. In 1902, a line of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway was being built through the area, and periodic watering stops were needed along the route for the steam locomotives. The current settlement of Lebanon was on the Preston Ridge and was therefore too high in elevation, so the watering stop was placed about four miles to the west on lower ground. A community grew around this train stop. Some residents of Lebanon actually moved their houses to the new community on logs. The new town was originally named Emerson, but the U.S. Postal Service rejected the name as being too similar to another town in Texas. In 1904, the town's residents chose "Frisco City" in honor of the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway. This name was later shortened to Frisco.
Later, in 1978, the first season of Dallas was filmed at Frisco's Cloyce Box Ranch, where the house on site was used as the Ewing family home. This house burned down during renovations in 1987, and the steel skeleton of the house still stands on today's Brinkmann Ranch, now the largest family owned estate in Frisco.
The distinctive Frisco coat of arms is based on the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway's logo.

Geography

Climate

Frisco is part of the humid subtropical region. It gets 39 inches of rain per year. On average, there are 230 sunny days per year in the city. The July high is 96 degrees. The January low is 33 degrees. The comfort index, which is based on humidity during the hot months, is a 25 out of 100, where higher is more comfortable.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which is land and, or 0.92%, is water.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, there were 116,989 people living in Frisco, up from the previous census in 2000, with 33,714 people. The racial makeup was 75.0% White, 8.1% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian or Alaska Native, 10.0% Asian, 3.3% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.1% of the population.
In 2000, there were 12,065 households, and 9,652 families residing in the city. The population density was 482.4 people per square mile. There were 13,683 housing units at an average density of 195.8 per square mile.
By 2010, there were 42,306 housing units, 39,901 households, and 31,226 families. 62% were on the Collin County side and 38% in Denton County.
67% of households were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.7% were non-families. 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.93 and the average family size was 3.35. 51.7% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them.
The age distribution is 33.3% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 13.9% from 25 to 34, 22.5% from 35 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 5.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.9 years.
According to a 2010 American Community Survey estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $100,868, the median income for a family was $109,086. The per capita income for the city was $38,048. About 2.2% of families and 5.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and 2.4% of those age 65 or over.
The median price for a new home is $252,000.
As of 2014, Frisco, Texas is the 2nd fastest growing city in U.S. at 6.5% annually. In May 2017, the US Census Bureau reported that Frisco City, Texas was the second fastest-growing city in the United States. It had a 6.2% growth rate between 2015 and 2016.

Economy

Frisco has many retail properties, including Stonebriar Centre, a 165-store regional mall, and IKEA, a furniture store with an area of and The headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys. Retail establishments and restaurants line Preston Road, one of the major north-south-running traffic arteries in the city.
Frisco took a different economic track than many surrounding cities, and elected to use a fractional percent of local sales tax to fund the Frisco Economic Development Corporation rather than Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the regional transportation body. The effectiveness of the FEDC, whose primary purpose is to reallocate such tax dollars to commercial ventures, is a matter of public debate.
Frisco also built Frisco Square, a mixed-use development which became the new downtown along with City Hall. Frisco Square has about 250 rental residential units, seven restaurants, about of commercial office space and a few personal service locations. The major development in the project is the new City Hall and main library and a public commons. A Cinemark theater opened in December 2010. In 2012, a hospital, Medical City Plano-Frisco, was built north of the theater.

Major employers

The top employers in Frisco:
No.EmployerNo. of employees
1Frisco Independent School District6,970
2City of Frisco1,508
3Amerisource Bergen Specialty Group1,450
4Conifer Health Solutions1,150
5T-Mobile USA760
6Baylor Medical Center of Frisco642
7Mario Sinacola & Sons Excavating603
8Oracle Corporation500
9Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Centennial490
10Collin College429

Arts and culture

Frisco hosts the Museum of the American Railroad, which is based out of the Frisco Heritage Museum while construction on a separate museum complex continues. The nearby Discovery Center features an art gallery, a black box theater, and the National Video Game Museum.

Sports

Frisco is home to several sporting venues, many major sports teams headquarters and a NCAA Division I conference headquarters. In April 2011, Men's Journal named Frisco the Best Place to Raise an Athlete.

Venues

Frisco is home to a variety of sporting venues. The Dr Pepper Ballpark, a 10,316-seat baseball stadium, hosted its first baseball game on April 3, 2003. It was named the best new ballpark that year by BaseballParks.com, and received the 2003 Texas Construction award for Best Architectural Design. Toyota Stadium, which was opened August 6, 2005, as "Pizza Hut Park", is a 20,500-seat stadium. It is primarily used as a soccer stadium by FC Dallas, but also hosts concerts, local high school football games and college games, including the NCAA Division I-AA college football championship starting in 2010 and the NCAA Division I Frisco Bowl starting in 2017. The Comerica Center, a combination hockey and basketball venue, is the home of the Texas Legends of the NBA G League and a practice facility for the Dallas Stars of the NHL. The Ford Center at The Star is a 12,000 seat indoor stadium, opened in 2015. It serves as the Dallas Cowboys practice facility, host to high school sporting events, and home to the Dallas Rattlers.

Football

The Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League moved their corporate headquarters to Frisco in time for the 2016 NFL football season; the complex opened in June 2016. The 91-acre Dallas Cowboys project "The Star" includes the team's headquarters and training facilities, one of which is the Ford Center, where Frisco ISD high schools and the Dallas Cowboys practice and occasionally play. It is on the corner of the N. Dallas Tollway and Warren Parkway.
The Texas Revolution of Champions Indoor Football began playing their home games at the Ford Center at The Star in 2019, but folded after three home games.

Hockey

The Dallas Stars National Hockey League team is headquartered in Frisco, and the team practices at the Comerica Center.
The Texas Tornado of the North American Hockey League had been based in Frisco since the fall of 2003, and shortly afterward the NAHL moved its main offices to Frisco. In the 2013 off-season, the Texas Tornado relocated to North Richland Hills, Texas. The NAHL relocated their offices in 2018.

Soccer

, a Major League Soccer team, moved their home to Pizza Hut Park at the corner of the Dallas North Tollway and Main Street in Frisco in August 2005. A major international youth soccer tournament, the Dallas Cup, is hosted in Frisco each year and draws teams from around the world.
The National Soccer Hall of Fame is co-located with Toyota Stadium.

Baseball

The Texas League AA minor league baseball team Frisco RoughRiders, a minor league affiliate of the Texas Rangers, play in Frisco at Dr Pepper Ballpark.

Basketball

The Texas Legends, affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks, are members of the NBA G League and play at Comerica Center.

Lacrosse

On November 16, 2017, Major League Lacrosse announced it would be moving the Rochester Rattlers franchise to The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco for the 2018 season as the Dallas Rattlers. The Rattlers folded after the 2019 season.

NCAA

The Southland Conference, an NCAA Division I athletics organization, relocated its headquarters to Frisco in 2006. On February 26, 2010, it was announced Pizza Hut Park in Frisco would become the host of the Football Championship Subdivision championship game, formerly held in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Huntington, West Virginia. The first matchup, hosted by the Southland Conference, was played January 7, 2011.

Others

Frisco also has an Olympic-size state-of-the-art natatorium. The has been in action since its establishment in 1984. The is an organized recreational league that allows children to play football before entering football in the school district. The is an organized recreational youth flag football league that is the largest NFL flag football program in Frisco. Cycling is a popular pastime in Frisco and is supported by the city as noted on its website
The sports entertainment conglomerate Dude Perfect is located in Frisco.

Parks and recreation

The Frisco Athletic Center features of indoor aquatics elements and about of outdoor aquatic features. Some area residents refer to this as the "Rec Center" or "F.A.C." It features exercise equipment and group exercise classes.

Government

Local government

Frisco is a "home rule" city. Frisco voters adopted its initial "home rule" charter in 1987. Frisco residents have voted to amend the Charter three times since 1987:
The form of government adopted by Frisco is the council-manager, which consists of a mayor and six city council members elected "at-large" and a city manager. Council members' duties include enacting local legislation, adopting budgets, determining policies, and appointing the City Manager.
According to the city's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city's various funds had $227.2 million in revenues, $184.4 million in expenditures, $1,647.0 million in total assets, $753.1 million in total liabilities, and $159.3 million in cash and investments.
The city of Frisco is a voluntary member of the North Central Texas Council of Governments association, the purpose of which is to coordinate individual and collective local governments and facilitate regional solutions, eliminate unnecessary duplication, and enable joint decisions.

Frisco Mayors

Primary and secondary

Most of Frisco is within the Frisco Independent School District, with some parts of the city extending into the Lewisville Independent School District, Little Elm Independent School District, and Prosper Independent School District. Lewisville ISD and Prosper ISD each have one elementary school in Frisco, while all other public schools within the city limits are Frisco ISD schools.
Frisco ISD has 10 high schools, 17 middle schools and 42 elementary schools. Most of Frisco ISD schools are within the Frisco city limits, but some are located in adjacent suburbs, such as Plano. All Frisco high schools compete in UIL Class 5A.
The Frisco ISD Early Childhood School is available for children ages three and four who meet eligibility requirements for Headstart, Prekindergarten, or Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities.
Frisco also has the Frisco ISD Career & Technical Education Center, a building in which students from high schools can experience and try different careers, from veterinary work to advertising, and graphic design.

Higher

, the Preston Ridge campus of the community college district, opened on Wade Boulevard in Frisco in August 1995.
Amberton University has a local campus on Parkwood Boulevard north of Warren Parkway.
In 2008, Frisco ISD opened the Career and Technology Education Center.
The University of Dallas has moved its Carrollton campus to Frisco.
UT Arlington has a professional MBA campus in Frisco.
University of North Texas core MBA courses can be taken at the Frisco campus.

Infrastructure

Major highways