The sleepy Collin County town of Lowry Crossing, found between Princeton and McKinney, has a population of 1,720. It's a city, but a small one, where everyone seems to know each other, without even a post office or its own school district. It’s quaint and feels like stepping back in time — but maybe not for long.
Just outside of Lowry Crossing, the town’s extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is set to welcome a new residential development: Trophy Signature Homes recently announced the launch of Lowry Trails — scheduled to open in July 2025, this community will feature 435 planned homesites.
But that's not just 400-plus people. This is single and multifamily homes, bringing in not just individual residents, but families as well. This is a big influx on a very small city. This development is setting up Lowry Crossing for even more expansion.
Big Plans Outside A Very Small City
Although the development is not technically within Lowry Crossing’s city limits, it is located nearby. Lowry Trails will be situated in the city's ETJ, which refers to the area outside a city's official boundaries where the city can still regulate land use and zoning.
But this isn’t the only development closing in on Lowry Crossing — it’s not even the largest. According to City Secretary Janis Cable, Cypress Creek and Cypress Creek West are also in the city’s ETJ.
“We have a development going on now with Meritage Homes and 80 acres of that was in the city limits and another, 54 acres we left in our ETJ,” Cable told Local Profile. An influx of new homes in the outskirts of a city with under 2,000 will possibly change Lowry Crossing.
How This Will Effect Lowry Crossing
Though the city’s overall size isn’t growing, the traditional one-acre-or-more lots may soon be a thing of the past. As developments continue to expand toward small towns like Lowry Crossing, available space for larger lots is becoming increasingly limited. According to a press release, Lowry Trails for example will feature 435 homes on 40-foot lots, a trend that’s becoming more common.
But the residents of Lowry Trails will use Princeton’s zip codes and likely use its school district as well, due to the lack of both in Lowry Crossing proper. This spillage from nearby towns like McKinney and Princeton — which are becoming increasingly more built out — is likely to begin bleeding into Lowry Crossing.
“Some of this new public improvement district stuff is pretty new to us,” Cable said. “We've just been this little gem in the middle of nowhere that nobody knew existed for a very long time. And the rest of our community is all one acre or more lot size. We all have septic tanks, you know?”
Will Lowry Crossing Get Bigger?
Lowry Crossing and its ETJ are positioned in a prime location for growth, as seen with these ongoing developments. While the town, according to Cable, is content to remain small, the influx of people into Collin County makes it increasingly likely that the city will expand in the future.
But could this ETJ ever become incorporated? Well, that is an expensive venture. One that could take many years to happen, if it ever does. "Could it ever happen — maybe after a bond is covered in 30 years,” Cable said. “We wouldn’t say to bring them in right away because we wouldn’t have the money to cover it."
If the past is prologue, the Lowry Crossing has already seen tremendous growth: Back in 1971, Lowry Crossing was home to just 79 residents!
Collin County Cities Keep Expanding
Princeton has also been growing rapidly, so much so the city implemented a temporary moratorium on new residential housing to assess the city's infrastructure and public services. The city, growing from just 5,000 residents in 2005 to nearly 30,000 in 2024, is poised to keep expanding. This could lead to more residential growth spilling over into towns like Lowry Crossing.
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