[Sticking to the Plan Plano's Journey to Excellence]
[00:00:06]
TODAY, THE 72ND LARGEST CITY IN THE NATION, CONSISTENTLY NAMED ONE OF THE BEST PLACES TO LIVE IN AMERICA, HOME TO CORPORATE GIANTS.
MORE RESTAURANTS PER CAPITA THAN SAN FRANCISCO.
PLANO ONCE LOOKED JUST LIKE THIS.
THE FIRST SETTLERS, MOSTLY FARMERS, CAME TO PLANO IN THE 1840S.
FAMILIES LIKE THE ARMSTRONG'S, CARPENTERS, FOREMANS, HAGGARDS, HARRINGTON'S AND WELLS CAME HERE FOR THE RICH, FERTILE SOIL, PLENTIFUL LAND, AND A PROMISE OF OPPORTUNITY.
THE TINY RURAL COMMUNITY GREW AT A SNAILS PACE.
BY 1960, ONLY 3,700 PEOPLE CALLED PLANO HOME.
YOU COULD GO INTO THE DIME STORE.
I WAS A DRUG STORE DOOR, GO IN AND HAVE A SUNDAY.
IT WAS JUST THE FREEDOM OF, OF A SMALL TOWN ON OUR BICYCLES.
WE COULD GO ANYWHERE IN TOWN AND EVEN OUT IN THE COUNTRY AS URBAN GROWTH, SLOWLY INCH NORTH FROM DALLAS, PLANO, FARMING FAMILIES KNEW IT WOULD SOON BE ON THEIR DOORSTEP.
WE KNEW THAT SOON ALL THOSE THINGS THAT HAD HAPPENED IN RICHARDSON WOULD BE HAPPENING IN PLANO, AND THE CONCRETE TRUCKS WOULD BE COMING.
A WAY OF LIFE WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE.
PLANO PREPARED FOR THE INEVITABLE GROWTH BY HIRING MARVIN SPRINGER, AN URBAN PLANNING CONSULTANT FROM DALLAS SPRINGER, DEVELOPED DALLAS FIRST COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND WOULD DO THE SAME FOR PLANO.
CITY LEADERS CHALLENGED SPRINGER TO CREATE A PLAN THAT WOULD SERVE AS A DEVELOPMENT GUIDE FOR DECADES.
THE PEOPLE THAT WERE THERE AT THAT TIME, VERY VISIONARY, THEY WERE LOOKING NOT FIVE YEARS INTO THE FUTURE, BUT 35 YEARS, 40 YEARS IN THE FUTURE, AND SAYING, HEY, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO CREATE A COMMUNITY THAT'S GONNA SERVE ALL OF ITS CITIZENS AT ALL ASPECTS.
SPRINGER'S PLAN FOR PLANO FOLLOWED A SIMPLE PATTERN.
DIVIDE THE CITY STREETS INTO ONE SQUARE MILE GRIDS.
EACH GRID WOULD HAVE A NEIGHBORHOOD PARK AND AN ELEMENTARY SO KIDS COULD WALK TO SCHOOL.
WE KNOW WE HAVE TO COPE WITH IT.
UH, LET'S DO THE BEST THAT WE CAN AND LET'S HAVE A PLAN AND LET'S, LET'S STICK TO IT.
AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY SET THE FOUNDATION FOR PLANOS SUCCESS.
WHAT THAT PLAN REALLY DID WAS HELP ESTABLISH, HERE'S WHERE WE'RE GOING TO WORK, HERE'S WHERE WE'RE GOING TO LIVE, HERE'S WHERE WE'RE GONNA SHOP, UH, AND THEN HERE'S HOW OUR NEIGHBORHOODS ARE GOING TO LOOK.
ONCE THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WAS IN PLACE, CITY AND SCHOOL DISTRICT LEADERS MET AND CAME UP WITH A BRILLIANT IDEA.
JOIN FORCES TO BUY LAND FOR SCHOOLS AND NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS.
SHARE THE COMMON OPEN SPACE, ABOUT 15 ACRES FOR BOTH.
AND SO YOU'RE SAVING TAX DOLLARS BOTH ON THE CITY SIDE AND ON THE SCHOOL SIDE.
THEY FOUND LAND FOR THE CITY'S LARGER PARKS IN SOME VERY UNLIKELY PLACES.
WE HAD PARK SITES THAT WERE 10 MILES OUT OF TOWN, BUT THEY WERE WITHIN THE PROJECTED CITY LIMITS OF THE CITY OF PLANO.
THEY WERE CORNFIELD OR A COTTON FIELD.
NO STREETS NEAR 'EM OR ANYTHING ELSE.
FORMER PARKS DIRECTOR DON WENDELL, REMEMBERS AN IMPROMPTU COUNTRY DRIVE WITH HIS PREDECESSOR, BOB WOODRUFF BEHIND THE WHEEL, FINALLY STOPPED, CLIMBED OVER A BARBED WIRE FENCE, WALKED A FEW HUNDRED YARDS TO A CREEK, AND BOB SAID, LOOK AROUND.
HE SAID, OKAY, LOOKING AROUND.
I SAID, THIS IS GONNA BE A FUTURE PARK.
THERE WAS NOTHING THERE, YOU KNOW, BUT TREES AND THE CREEK AND GRASS.
AND THAT PARK IS HO CELL PARK TODAY.
IT'S KINDA LIKE PUTTING A CANOE IN THE WATER IN A, IN A RIVER GOING DOWNSTREAM.
IF YOU DON'T PADDLE, YOU'RE GONNA WIND UP CAPSIZED SIDEWAYS.
SOMETHING'S GONNA GO WRONG DOWN THERE.
SO HAD TO PUT YOUR OAR IN THE WATER AND, AND, AND PADDLE.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE DID WITH GUIDELINES FROM SPRINGER'S.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FIRMLY IN PLACE.
THE MESSAGE WAS BUILD, BUILD, BUILD.
WE HAD, I DON'T REMEMBER, PROBABLY 10 OR 12 INSPECTORS, AND THEY MAY HAVE HAD 30, 40, 50 JOBS A PIECE BECAUSE WE HAD SO MUCH CONSTRUCTION GOING ON AT THE TIME.
MY FIRST YEAR AS BUILDING OFFICIAL, WE APPROVED, UH, AND INSPECTED ABOUT AROUND $1.5 BILLION WORTH OF NEW CONSTRUCTION.
BUT NOT EVERYONE WELCOMED THAT EXPLOSIVE GROWTH.
AS FORMER CITY PLANNER, DAN EFCO DISCOVERED WHEN HE PUT UP METAL SIGNS ANNOUNCING PROPOSED ZONING CHANGES,
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ALL THE ONES THAT WE PUT OUT IN WEST PLANO CAME BACK WITH MULTIPLE BULLET HOLES.BUT THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ACCOMPLISHED WHAT IT'S SET OUT TO DO.
AS SCORES OF NEW NEIGHBORHOODS WERE BUILT, PLANOS POPULATION GREW FAST AND STEADY.
BY 1987, THE POPULATION SOARED TO 200,000.
CITY LEADERS CONTINUED TO EMBRACE THE PLAN WITH MINOR CHANGES.
WE DIDN'T ALWAYS LIKE EACH OTHER.
THERE WERE PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T LIKE ME AND I DIDN'T, THEY WEREN'T MY BEST FRIENDS EITHER.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE WORKED TOWARDS THE SAME COMMON GOAL.
SO A BUSINESS PLAN IS GREAT, A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN IS GREAT, BUT UNLESS YOU FOLLOW IT AND EXECUTE IT, THEN IT'S REALLY, UH, IT'S JUST REALLY WORDS AND A PIECE OF PAPER.
THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CALLED FOR MANY MORE NEIGHBORHOODS TO BE BUILT ON THE WEST SIDE OF TOWN, BUT THAT WOULD CHANGE DRAMATICALLY.
WHEN ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS FOUNDER AND C E O ROSS PEROT APPROACHED THE CITY WITH A GAME-CHANGING VISION.
PEROT SOUGHT TO CREATE A CORPORATE CAMPUS FOR E D S.
HE WOULD ENTICE TWO OTHER CORPORATE GIANTS TO MAKE THE MOVE AS WELL.
JC PENNEY AND FRITOLAY THAT WOULD HELP PAY FOR HIS COMPANY'S NEW HEADQUARTERS.
ROSS, BRO BELIEVED THAT IF WE COULD GET TWO OR THREE MAJOR COMPANIES THAT THE REST WOULD, WOULD, WOULD SELL ITSELF.
AND, UM, AND IT DID, IT SHIFTED THE CITY'S TRAJECTORY FROM BEING A BEDROOM COMMUNITY.
'CAUSE MOST PEOPLE COMMUTED TO DALLAS OR TO TI OR RAYTHEON, UH, INTO BEING A, A MAJOR EMPLOYMENT CENTER.
OVER TIME, ITS ATTRACTIVE LOCATION.
COMBINED WITH PLANOS FRIENDLY BUSINESS CLIMATE WOULD ATTRACT SCORES OF COMPANIES OF ALL SIZES, INCLUDING SOME VERY FAMILIAR NAMES.
TOYOTA, LIBERTY MUTUAL, JP MORGAN CHASE, PEPSICO, HEWLETT PACKARD, FEDEX AND BOEING.
THEY KEPT THE TAX BASE AT A REASONABLE LEVEL FOR CITIZENS.
IN FACT, WE HAD ONE OF THE LOWEST IN THE METROPLEX, PROBABLY STILL DO, LARGELY BECAUSE WE HAD ABOUT 50% OF OUR TAX BASE WAS CORPORATE SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS.
WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING THAT'S SUCCESSFUL, YOU WANNA BE A PART OF IT.
MORE THAN A HALF CENTURY LATER, PLANO CONTINUES TO FOLLOW MANY OF THE SAME GUIDELINES FROM MARVIN SPRINGER'S.
ORIGINAL, COMPREHENSIVE PLAN COMMUNITIES WILL STILL BE BUILT, THEY'LL STILL GO ON.
BUT IF YOU HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN THAT FORMS A PICTURE AND A VISION OF WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, IT'S EASIER FOR THE ELECTED OFFICIALS TO CREATE A COMMUNITY, A PICTURE THAT WILL BE IN TURN BE A GREAT COMMUNITY.
IT WASN'T ABOUT POLITICS OR SOCIAL ISSUES OR ANY OF THOSE THINGS.
IT WAS ALL ABOUT GROWING THE CITY OF PLANO.
AND WE ALL HAD THE SAME GOALS.
WE ALL HAD THE SAME OBJECTIVES IN MIND.
JUST ABOUT EVERY CITY HAS A MASTER PLAN NOWADAYS, UM, AND THEY ALMOST NEVER FOLLOW IT.
HOW MANY CITIES OFFER THE NUMBER OF PARKS, PARKLAND AND PLACES YOU CAN GO TO FOR, UH, MEDITATION, SO TO SPEAK? HOW MANY CITIES OFFER THE NUMBER OF, UH, RECREATIONAL FACILITIES FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE? HOW MANY CITIES OFFER A A CLASS, A SCHOOL SYSTEM IN THE COMMUNITY? WELL, PEOPLE HAVE ASKED ME, RELISH, WHY DIDN'T YOU SELL AND MOVE? I CAN'T THINK OF A OTHER PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES.
I'D RATHER LIVE THAN RIGHT WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
AND IT'S BECAUSE OF WHAT PLANOS DOING.
BOLD VISION, FEARLESS AMBITION, STEADY DIRECTION AND GRITTY DETERMINATION.
THE HALLMARKS OF PLANO LEADERS PAST AND PRESENT, WHO BY STICKING TO THE PLAN, TOOK PLANO ON A JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE.