Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere is set to deliver his annual State of the City speech Tuesday night.
LaRosiliere calls the speech, “Plano 3.0” and told NBC 5 he hopes to deliver the message that Plano is no one’s suburb.
“We are our own city,” he said. “We are a thriving, safe city with lots of amenities. And we are a world-class city that competes on a global level.”
As proof, LaRosiliere points to projects like the still under construction $2 billion, 240-acre Legacy West development with its big ticket tenants: The Toyota North American headquarters, JPMorgan Chase, Liberty Mutual Insurance and FedEx. Those companies are expected to employ more than 18,000 people at Legacy West by the end of 2017.
“And it’s for the benefit of all,” LaRosiliere. “We see ourselves as regional employment leaders. And when we bring those people here to our community it benefits our cities north, south, east and west of us.”
LaRosiliere said he titled the speech “Plano 3.0” because he sees the city as being in its third version.
Plano 1.0, the mayor said, was Plano in the 1980s when it was primarily a “sleepy, bedroom community.”
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Plano 2.0, according to LaRosiliere, was Plano in the 1990s, when the city was among the fastest growing in the country but was still, the mayor said, “a Dallas suburb.”
LaRosiliere said version 3.0 still fights the misconception that it is solely a suburb.
To combat that idea, the mayor points to the city’s growing population of more than 270,000, ninth in the state, and 70th in the nation ahead of cities like Buffalo and Orlando.
