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Panelists say Highway 5 divided McKinney: redlining, services and daily life
Summary
Former residents and Doty alumni described Highway 5 as a long-standing dividing line in McKinney, linking it to redlining, delayed services (unpaved streets, no postal deliveries), and different economic opportunities between East and West sides.
Panelists repeatedly described Highway 5 as the physical and social boundary that separated East McKinney from more resourced parts of town. One participant explained the practice of redlining in plain language: "Redlining redlining is when a particular area is considered substandard in a way or devalued, and you cannot obtain you cannot obtain the property ... cannot be collateral for you to purchase a loan to obtain money from a financial institution." That speaker and others linked this financial exclusion to later differences in paved streets, drainage, utilities and postal service for residents east of the highway.
Speakers said those disparities were lived daily: unpaved streets that became mud in the rainy season, late or no postal delivery for East McKinney residents, and municipal services that took longer to arrive than on the west side. Panelists urged that current preservation and planning work acknowledge how infrastructure and finance history shaped neighborhood development and resources.
