Princeton, Texas is among the fastest growing cities in the country – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Leading one of the fastest growing cities in the country is no easy task.

It requires that you keep two fires burning: one for today's worries, and one for tomorrow's worries.

As mayor of Princeton, Brianna Chacon knows these concerns all too well.

“Princeton is kind of a ‘unicorn city’ within Collin County,” Mayor Chacon said of the rapid growth her city has experienced in recent years, the amount of room it has to grow and the relatively affordable housing.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Princeton's population is expected to grow 22% in 2023, making it the third-fastest growing city in America.

As recently as 2005, Princeton had a population of 4,229. By last year, that population had grown to 28,027. And by 2039, Princeton's population is expected to reach at least 110,000.

Such growth must be deliberately managed and was not fully anticipated.

“Our comprehensive plan that we’re implementing now was adopted in 2019 and was supposed to go through 2050. We’ve already surpassed that,” Mayor Chacon said. “It’s really wild. I think wild is an appropriate word.”

One of the concerns for a rapidly growing city is how to handle emergency services. You can’t wait until the population is fully expanded to hire the right number of police officers and firefighters. But you also can’t hire them all with the expected growth in mind, because the tax base wouldn’t support it yet.

“Staffing is incredibly important to us,” Mayor Chacon said. “How do we make sure that we budget to accommodate that? And a big part of that is making sure that we actually have the facilities.”

An example of this is the city of Princeton, which will soon open its fourth fire station – something that was not needed a few years ago – and is looking to hire seven additional firefighters to staff the station.

According to Mayor Chacon, the Princeton Police Department will likely hire several new officers this year.

“So if you're looking for a great city to work for, this is my little advertisement to come work for Princeton,” Mayor Chacon said with a laugh.