Quality of Life Component

The City of Plano is committed to providing a high quality of life for its citizens and businesses. Quality of life, known as the general well-being of individuals and societies, includes several components which are desired by citizens within the Plano community. Plano’s quality of life and municipal services became a well-known commodity in the 1980s. The superior school districts, state of the art city facilities, and low crime rates contributed to the community’s rapid population growth and corporate recruitment. Today, Plano continues to provide exceptional services that are nationally recognized. As Plano matures and the population diversifies, new challenges must be addressed in order to maintain a high standard of living for all citizens.

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Policies
  1. Background: Plano collaborates with a number of nonprofit organizations and school districts to ensure unmet needs and services are provided throughout the community. The city contributes grant funding to assist in homelessness and poverty prevention, crisis services, and health access. Proactive measures have been proven to reduce long-term costs and have a greater impact in reducing demand on municipal services such as police enforcement and emergency medical response. Partnerships are vital to providing adequate services to underserved populations within the community and the city will support and build relationships with social service providers to address these needs to improve quality of life.
  1. Parks & Recreation
    Background: An accredited and award-winning parks and recreation system is a major contributor to the excellent quality of life in Plano. Citizens enjoy 85 public parks covering more than 4,300 acres and 88 miles of paved trails. Plano will keep pace with the city’s changing demographics and growing population by developing a comprehensive system of facilities that anticipates future needs and provides excellent parks, recreation facilities, trails, and open space.
  1. Active Living & Citizen Well-Being
    Background: America’s Health Rankings recently rated Texas in the lower half of healthy states in the nation. Significant health issues identified by Collin County’s medical providers such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease can be mitigated by encouraging active and healthy living initiatives. These initiatives include encouraging farmer’s markets and community gardens to promote healthy food options, participating in a variety of Plano’s Recreation Center wellness programs, or utilizing locally focused programs and services from Plano’s medical providers. Collaboration and partnerships with local businesses and medical providers will provide an opportunity to address these public health issues for Plano’s future.
  1. Background: Educational opportunities also contribute to the high standard of living in Plano. With five libraries, approximately 800,000 books in circulation, and thousands of print and non-print materials, the Plano Public Library System contributes to the academic advancement of the citizens. However, today’s libraries serve a larger role in the Plano community; they are places that provide an interactive human element where people can meet, learn, get help, be entertained, and improve their quality of life. The Plano libraries are continuously evolving with new technology to enhance and expand services that meet the future needs of the community.
  1. Background: Plano’s educational opportunities are reinforced by its three award-winning school districts and numerous National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence. Quality education is an important component of the culture and expectations of Plano’s citizens, and the educational opportunities found within the city often attract new businesses and residents to the community. Though school districts are separate governmental entities from the city, both share a number of future challenges and can work cohesively to ensure high quality learning within the city.

Resources