Historic Downtown Plano, Texas

Not long ago, Downtown Plano was a sleepy, nearly forgotten commercial center of a farming community swept away by Dallas' suburban expansion.  Today, Downtown Plano is experiencing a renaissance and is reemerging as an urban center stimulated, in part, by the coming of light rail transit service.  So far, over 50,000 square feet of private development has occurred, 750 urban apartments have been built or approved, and historic commercial and civic buildings have been restored in the compact 80 acre downtown area.
 
Initially settled in the 1840s, Plano was incorporated June 2, 1873, six months after the Houston and Texas Central Railroad opened and made the city the trading center of the farming community of southwest Collin County.  Today, the City of Plano occupies approximately 72 square miles with a population greater than 270,000.

Despite Plano's tremendous growth, downtown remained largely unchanged.  During the 1980s, downtown changed from a traditional business center to a specialty retail district composed of antique stores and gift and clothing boutiques. During the 90's, the city began focusing its future to the historic downtown area by building its new headquarters of City Hall, the municipal courthouse, and the downtown fire station.  In 2002, the DART station at 15th Street began commencing service to downtown Dallas.  In 2007, the existing merchants association of Downtown Plano was reorganized into a non-profit organization named, The Historic Downtown Plano Association with the mission of preserving Downtown Plano's historic character and embracing its future.

Today, Historic Downtown Plano is urbanizing with new restaurants, retail, office, and housing. Almost every night of the week the streets and parking lots are full, and the shops and restaurants are buzzing with people from all areas.  The sky is the limit as Historic Downtown Plano has become a destination to Eat, Play, Shop, and Live.