This past November, we asked our Facebook fans to name one way they’d improve our great city. The most common suggestions were to fix the traffic and road construction. Many people also mentioned a desire to see outdated strip malls and vacant business areas revitalized. And Plano people made it clear: they want more festivals and restaurants! Here is just a sampling of the answers we received:
Revitalize Collin Creek Mall into something truly unique and wonderful! – Regina R.
More bbq restaurants. – David G.
Expand the DART parking on Parker Road to be multi level. – Karen O.
I’d bring a farmers market back to the city! I think the Collin County Farmers Market is doing a good job, but a market in central/west Plano would be fantastic. The Coppell Farmer’s Market, with a park and restaurants close by, is a great example of what we could have here. – Laura T.
Open some upscale restaurants on the East Side – Iva C.
Get more neighborhoods together, whether it’s an annual picnic or street close-off. That’s how you meet people! – Bernadette T.
Get better bagels. – Samantha Z.
Have more Asian festivals. – Chee N.
Plano doesn’t have anything that is a big draw, like Nebraska Furniture Mart, Allen Even Center, IKEA, Mesquite Rodeo. What we desperately need north of Dallas is an indoor big concert venue. Outdoor concerts are too dang hot in TX. – Laura G.
I would love to see Plano continue to enhance the greenbelt that runs along Preston/Hedgecoxe down to the lake near Preston/Tennyson. Add restaurants or small outdoor food venues, cultural venues, etc. – Yuki O.
Redevelop the Collin Creek Mall area into a green space for shopping, dinning and recreation; create a green walkway across Central to downtown Plano. – Larry D.
Build more restaurants with outdoor dining! We don’t have enough of them. We love to eat outside on a nice evening! – Susie H.
Can one improve on perfection? – James W.
Fix traffic flow. Too many lights and it takes forever to get from one end of Plano to the other. – Heather W.
More interaction with neighbors. Alleys take the neighborhood feel away as nobody is ever in the front yard. – Dawna H.
Have more family friendly festivals throughout the year. – Morgan D.
Revitalize the older and partially vacant shopping strips. – Julie H.
I’m thinking a major improvement would be faster completion of road construction! The DNT Plano Parkway and Park exits have been a mess for awhile. – Betsy R.
Add more walkable shops and restaurants. – Lauren G.
Stop taking away our park land, we can never get it back. There were more people enjoying the park than what is now build on the park’s land. – Jerry C.
Increase funding of the arts in PISD. – Karen V.
Add more public transportation. – Lynn E.
Make it more walkable by foot. – Natalie L.
What do you think? Do you agree? Do you have something to add to the list?
Build an indoor concert venue with seating for about 800 with excellent acoustics! It could be part of a larger plan using land at Collin Creek Mall. Right now, our excellent arts groups are limited to performing in large churches or outside of Plano!
Check out ArtCentre of Plano for venue space, performing arts space and more! Festivals there are fantastic!
Trend toward walkable shopping and eating is here to stay. Coffee and tea houses with music.
Focus on Central Plano between Coit and Preston. South of legacy and North of Park. More neighborhood type restaurants instead of driving west to the tollway.
Improve driving conditions in 2 intersections on Preston road always accidents:
Preston and park by the talbots, Preston and George bush by lowes
Speed limit of 55 in Preston rd should be reduced to 45 !
Establish a Heritage and History Center that is large enough to hold vast collections and exhibits. Plano needs a place to educate visitors and new residents on our rich history. We have fantastic historic resources, houses and libraries but they are spread out and small. They also have a specific focus so cannot tell our full story. We need a large centralized history center that can serve as a hub of heritage activities and promote all the resources.
The #1 Plano needs to fix is traffic flow! Every light I come across always has the need to turn red, even if there are no cars on the other street! The Preston Road area is a huge mess, especially in the morning, lunch, and rush hours. An overpass over Park Blvd. and Legacy Dr. should be an idea. Also a Plano Pkwy. overpass over Preston, and better connectors to the Bush Turnpike is helpful. It always takes me 5-10 minutes just for me to turn on Preston from Plano Pkwy to the Bush Turnpike because of bad traffic light timing and the fact that an extra right lane only takes you to a stupid car dealership and not the turnpike!
Utilize Collin Creek Mall as an indoor sports facility for year round sports and sports related businesses and as a concert venue on the other end.