Plano

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Plano October 2015 09 (Haggard Park), Plano, Texas, United States

Plano October 2015 37 (Municipal Center), Plano, Texas, United States

CollinCountyCommunityCollege 7995, Plano, Texas, United States

Rowlett Creek in Oak Point Park, Plano, Texas, USA, Plano, Texas, United States

About Plano

Plano is a city of about 290,000 people in Collin County, about 20 miles north of downtown Dallas. Settlers arrived in the 1840s, and the town was named Plano, meaning flat in Spanish, for the level prairie around it. The railroad arrived in 1872, and Plano grew as a farming town until the 1970s and 1980s brought rapid suburban growth.

Today Plano is one of the wealthiest and most corporate cities in Texas. Toyota North America, JCPenney and many other companies have headquarters in the Legacy area, where Legacy West and the Shops at Legacy pack restaurants, shops and hotels into walkable districts. Plano has often been ranked one of the safest and best-run cities in the country.

Its historic downtown, along 15th Street near the DART light rail station, keeps restored brick storefronts, local restaurants and the Interurban Railway Museum. Plano is also known for parks and festivals: Arbor Hills Nature Preserve has trails through prairie and woodland, Oak Point Park covers 800 acres, and the Plano Balloon Festival fills the sky with hot air balloons each September.

Best seasonMarch to May and September to November; September brings the Plano Balloon Festival.

Ideal stayOne to two days for downtown, Legacy West, Arbor Hills and the city's parks.

ArrivingDallas Fort Worth International and Dallas Love Field are about 30 minutes away; DART Red and Orange lines serve downtown Plano.

Why People Love Plano: 12 Things to Discover

Neighborhoods 2

Historic Downtown Plano

Long before the corporate campuses arrived, Plano was a small railroad and farming town, and its original core survives along bric...

Legacy West

In the heart of Plano's corporate corridor, Legacy West is a newer mixed-use district of shops, restaurants, offices and apartment...

Parks 3

Arbor Hills Nature Preserve

This preserve in west Plano protects a remarkable variety of North Texas landscapes in one compact area: open blackland prairie, s...

Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve

Plano's largest park spreads across hundreds of acres on the city's east side, mixing restored prairie, woods and the banks of Row...

Haggard Park

Shaded by large old trees, this small park sits right beside Historic Downtown Plano and the DART station, making it a natural pau...

Museums 2

Interurban Railway Museum

Housed in the restored 1908 Texas Electric Railway station beside Haggard Park, this small museum tells the story of the electric...

Heritage Farmstead Museum

This living history museum preserves a farmstead that once sat amid open prairie, now surrounded by the modern city. The centrepie...

Shopping 2

The Shops at Legacy

Set within the Legacy Town Center area, this outdoor shopping and dining district has an urban main-street feel, with storefronts...

The Shops at Willow Bend

This large enclosed mall in west Plano offers a climate-controlled escape from Texas heat, with department stores, national brands...

Family 1

Crayola Experience Plano

Inside The Shops at Willow Bend, the Crayola Experience is an indoor attraction packed with hands-on creative activities for young...

Events 1

Plano Balloon Festival

Every September, the open fields of Oak Point Park fill with colour as dozens of hot-air balloons take to the sky for the Plano Ba...

Day Trips 1

Southfork Ranch

Just east of Plano in Parker, Southfork Ranch became world famous as the home of the Ewing family in the long-running television s...

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Photo credits

Photo: Joseph Gage from Yorkville, IL, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo: Michael Barera, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Loadmaster (David R. Tribble) This image was made by Loadmaster (David R. Tribbl, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Jackilometresan, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Photo: Ranch9613, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Photo: Michael Barera, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Hasteur, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Jackilometresan, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Photo: Joseph Gage from Yorkville, IL, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo: Michael Barera, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Robert Nunnally from Allen, TX, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Photo: Michael Barera, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Brian Jeffrey Dean, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Michael Barera, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Susan Bartley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Nan Palmero from San Antonio, TX, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Photo: SwisterTwister, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Sf46 at en.wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

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Photo: Priwo, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain