Plano

Plano is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas, mainly within Collin County, but also extending into Denton County. It is a suburb of Dallas, Texas. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 222,030, making it the ninth largest city in Texas, and the seventieth most populous city in the United States; it had grown to 250,096 in the 2005 census estimate. Plano is within the Dallas Plano Irving metropolitan division of the Dallas Fort Worth Arlington metropolitan area, a title designated by the U.S. Census, and is colloquially referred to as the Metroplex. The city is home to many corporate headquarters, including Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., Electronic Data Systems, Frito-Lay, Cinemark Theatres, and JCPenney.

HISTORY

In the early 1840s, several settlers came to the area around Plano. Several nearby facilities including a sawmill, gristmill and a store brought more people to the area. Mail service was established and after rejecting several names for the budding town (including naming it in honor of then-President Millard Fillmore), the locals suggested the name Plano, the Spanish word for "flat," a reference to the terrain of the area. The name was accepted by the Post Office and Plano was born.

In 1872, the completion of the Houston and Texas Railroad helped to grow the city, increasing the population to more than 500 by 1874. In 1873, the city officially incorporated.

In 1881, a fire raged through the central business district, destroying most of the buildings: 51 in all. However, the town rebuilt itself and business again flourished through the 1880s.

Unlike many of the other Dallas suburbs, which were closer to Dallas itself, the population of Plano initially grew slowly, reaching 1,304 in 1900 and increasing to 3,695 in 1960. By 1970, however, Plano began to feel some of the boom its neighbors experienced following World War II. A series of public works projects and a change in taxes that removed the farming community from the town helped to increase the overall population of Plano. In 1970, the population reached 17,872 and by 1980, the population had exploded to 72,000 people. Almost unbelievably the sewers, schools and street development kept easy pace with this massive increase largely due to Plano's flat topography, grid layout and excellent planning.

During the 1980s, many large corporations moved their headquarters to Plano, including JC Penney and Frito-Lay, which helped to further grow the city as more people desired to move closer to where they worked. By 1990, the population had reached 128,713 and now dwarfed the county seat of McKinney. In 1994, the city was recognized as an All-America City.

By 2000, the population nearly doubled again to 222,030, making it one of the largest suburbs in the Dallas area. However, the area's suburban sprawl has pushed beyond Plano and the city's population is stabilizing. Plano is completely locked in by other municipalities and cannot expand in area, and there is little undeveloped land remaining within the city limits. By 2005, its population was estimated to be 250,096.

NOTABLE RESIDENTS

The following is a list of past and current residents of Plano, who have obtained notability outside of the community:

Troy Aikman, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and recent Pro Football Hall of Fame honoree

Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner

L. Sprague de Camp, prolific science fiction author

Steve Harvey, comedian and radio show host

Stephen Katz, television and film writer, wrote The Contract

Scott Mechlowicz, star of Eurotrip

Adam Miller minor league baseball player for the Akron Aeros

H. Ross Perot, businessman and two-time presidential candidate

Greg Ray, former auto racing driver in the Indy Racing League

Deion Sanders, former Dallas Cowboys cornerback, current CBS sports commentator
 
Alan Tudyk, stage and film actor on such works as Serenity

Jennifer Vasquez, contestant on the hit reality show Big Brother 6 on CBS, and a former Dallas Desperados Dancer.

Kristin Holt, host of the G4's Cheat!, and a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.

Anousheh Ansari, businesswoman set to become first female space tourist.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 185.5 km² (71.6 mi²). 185.4 km² (71.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.08%) is water.GR1

TRANSPORTATION

Plano is one of many cities in the Dallas area that opts into the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) public transportation system. During most of its membership in DART, Plano was lightly served by bus lines, but in recent years, DART's successful light rail project, the Red Line, has opened stations in downtown Plano and at Parker Road. These stations enjoy heavy usage by people commuting to work elsewhere in the Dallas area.

Plano was the first of many cities in Collin County to adopt a master plan for their road system. The Plano grid makes traveling inside the city easy and hassle-free. Usage of divided highways for all major roads allows for higher speed limits on those thoroughfares, generally 40 or 45 MPH but sometimes up to 55 MPH.

Plano is served directly by several major roadways and freeways, including U.S. Highway 75, the Dallas North Tollway, the President George Bush Turnpike, and SH 121 (which is currently under construction to be made into another area toll road). Preston Road or State Highway 289 is also a major thoroughfare that runs through the city. Though not a freeway, it is perhaps, arguably, the most "important" road in Dallas. For reference to other regional freeways, see List of Dallas freeways.

BUSINESS

Plano is the corporate headquarters for some of the country's largest and most-recognized companies. Tree-lined Legacy Drive in the 75024 zip code, between Preston Road and State Highway 121, is full of corporate campuses. The following companies headquarter in Plano:

Electronic Data Systems
JCPenney
Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages and its subsidiary, Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc.
Frito Lay
Cinemark Theatres
Rent-A-Center
Perot Systems

Plano also has a large number of semiconductor and telecommunications companies in its Research and Technology District (RT) due in part to its proximity to the Telecom Corridor. The list includes:

Alcatel
Raytheon
Texas Instruments
Flextronics
Ericsson
Plano is also a frequent destination for business travelers; 80% of out-of-area visitors visit for this purpose. This is due to the city's close proximity to Dallas, and due to the many corporations headquartered in Plano. The city also has a large convention center. Plano is locally famous for its annual hot air balloon festival.

Recently, Plano has made a concerted effort to draw retail to the area in an effort to boost sales tax returns. The newly constructed Shops at Legacy features apartments and an Angelika Film Center, while The Shops at Willow Bend is the city's new, upscale mall.

Plano is also the headquarters of the NCAA's Southland Conference.

Wal-Mart also considered the city's affluence when it decided to establish the experimental luxury Wal-Mart Supercenter on Park Road and the Dallas North Tollway.

EDUCATION

Plano Independent School District serves most of Plano.

Small portions of Plano are served by the Lewisville Independent School District and the Frisco Independent School District.

Plano is the home to two campuses of the Collin County Community College District, one at the Courtyard Center on Preston Park Boulevard and the larger Spring Creek Campus on Spring Creek Parkway at Jupiter.

SMU in Legacy is a graduate university serving the needs of 3,000 working professionals. Its academic programs include business, engineering and computer training, education and continuing education. It also features The Guildhall [1] that offers a Masters program in video game development.

Plano students, suicides, and heroin
Plano students achieved notoriety following a cluster of nine suicides in 1983 that raised national awareness about suburban teenage depression and drug abuse. The drug specifically cited by many was heroin. This heroin problem resurfaced in the late 1990s, culminating in coverage by several major news outlets such as NBC's Dateline. Heroin use in Plano eventually led to over a dozen overdose deaths of teenagers and young adults. Many more Plano heroin users suffered from overdoses that did not result in death. Based on the heroin epidemic among Plano youth, the Plano Police Department launched an undercover investigation known as "Operation Rockfest." The investigation led to 84 drug cases against 33 adults and four juveniles, including 14 students enrolled in Plano schools. [2]

In July 2003, Taylor Hooton, a student athlete at Plano West Senior High School, committed suicide which his family believed was connected to depression caused by the use of steroids used for performance enhancement. Much like the city's suicide and heroin issues of the 1980s and 1990s, this incident drew national focus to the issues of high school athletes and steroid use. Chris Walsh was featured on the cover of the December 20, 2004, Newsweek magazine wearing a Plano West Senior High School shirt in an article about the use of steroids in high schools. On March 10, 2005, Don Hooton (the father of Taylor) testified before a Congressional Subcommittee about the use of steroids in high school. This was a widely covered event as several prominent baseball players including José Canseco and Mark McGwire testified as well.

DEMOGRAPHICS

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 222,030 people, 80,875 households, and 60,575 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,197.8/km² (3,102.4/mi²). There were 86,078 housing units at an average density of 464.4/km² (1,202.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 78.26% White, 5.02% African American, 0.36% Native American, 10.18% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.86% from other races, and 2.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.07% of the population.

There were 80,875 households out of which 42.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.3% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.1% were non-families. 20.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.7% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 36.5% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 4.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 99.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $78,722, and the median income for a family was $91,162. Males had a median income of $64,668 versus $39,617 for females. The per capita income for the city was $36,514. About 3.0% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over. Average rents in Plano in 2005 were $662 for a one bedroom apartment, and $878 for a two bedroom apartment.

Plano was the highest income place with a population of 130,000 or more in 2000.

Plano is also located in prestigious Collin County, the richest county in Texas and part of the richest 1% of counties in the United States. The four wealthy zip codes of Plano that contribute to the county's affluence are (in descending order of median household income/year): 75093, 75024, 75025, and 75094.

Population Growth

1874: 500
1890: 1,200
1900: 1,304
1960: 3,695
1970: 17,872
1980: 72,331
1990: 128,713
1994: 166,952
1995: 178,949
1996: 192,622
1997: 207,781
1998: 219,486
2000: 222,030
2003: 241,991
2004: 245,411
2005: 250,096