The Secrets of Plano's Success

“Things are going well for downtown Plano,” according to an article by Andrew Keatts.

Almost 15 years ago, Dallas-area regional planners put a light-rail station in historic downtown Plano. Since then, city leaders watched the area thrive with the types of developments – mixed-use, walkable, transit-oriented, public-private partnerships – that win a game of urban planning buzzword bingo.

Keatts notes that downtown Plano’s accomplishments earned recognition on the American Planning Association’s list of Great Places in America. Keatts provides a history of downtown Plano’s decline and resurgence, starting with disinvestment in the 1980s, the city’s first downtown plan in 1992, the arrival of a regional light rail line in 2002, and the transit oriented development that followed.