Plano isn’t heaven or hell - it’s just a place to live

by Blair Lovern

Here's some wonderfully enlightening discourse over at Unfair Park on Plano.

A Friend of Unfair Park writes:

"Not sure if you’ve followed this 'story' on Slate, but apparently Mickey Kaus, Virginia Postrel, and Andrew Sullivan have been engaging in debate (loosely centered around the success of Brokeback Mountain in Plano) regarding whether Plano is a prime example, if not ground zero, of the modern 'red state' city.

"Kind of interesting, in my opinion, that Plano is touted nationally as either a sort of exurban, yuppie paradise or a city full of closed-minded pricks who spend their whole lives trying to root out sodomy."

Here’s the link to the Slate piece. Me, I think Plano’s just about the best city to drive through in all of the U.S. and A. –Robert Wilonsky

Three cheers to Robert Wilonsky driving through the town where I live. Keep on driving. The superiority complex of these people reveling in how unrivalled their lives are never ceases to amaze me. I own a freakin house with a pool in Plano, and there's no way in hell I could afford the same quality and size of house in Dallas. We looked, I won't even go into describing how complex our house-hunting process was. There's no way I could afford what we have in almost any other place in the country. My entire adult life has been spent in apartment complexes and condos with no yard, no privacy, no peace and quiet, no ownership, no investment.

On my street I don't know any close-minded pricks who spend their whole lives trying to root out sodomy. Sorry, I'm thinking really hard. I've got other things to do with my normal life than worry about things like that. I want no part of a yuppie paradise. I don't think I'm swimming in one, I see it every day. There are (gasp) houses in Plano that don't have five minivans parked in the driveway, and where a prime time network sitcom never graces the TV screen in the living room that is not furnished by Stacy's. Believe it or not, there are people in this world who have lived in the middle of the bright lights and excitement and don't want to live in the thick of it any more; people who don't want to damage their bank account when they decide renting is ridiculous and want some space to live. I could have chosen to live in, say, Burma. Nothing against Burma, or even the M Streets or whatever, but I like driving five minutes to Costco too much and buying thick steaks to grill in my backyard that I can eat on a nice table that was found after my wife visited about 50 (very close) suburban shopping centers that claw one another to pieces trying to entice customers with low prices. And after I eat my delicious steak that is thicker, just as juicy and a fifth of what Al Biernat would charge for one (more power to Al, but I've got three more in the freezer), then I can watch a non-trendy movie on a big screen TV way on the other side of our large living room that has a large fireplace that burns real wood that I can replenish two minutes from my front door. And if that Costco didn't have a nice steak selection, there's another Costco I can go to without wasting half a tank of gas. Thank you free market, I am your biggest fan.

For someone who drools over elite grocery stores so much, Wilonsky ought to point his high-angled nose in another direction before he suffers an injury. I'm only trying to offer some friendly advice. Trust me, I love driving through your part of town, too.

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Anonymous

Chris Curotolo, says:

I have to agree with Blair on this one. I live in Plano as well, and I have yet to see a neighborhood sodomy watch on my street.

I've lived the apartment lifestyle in big cities like New York and Miami. When the time came for my wife and I to buy a home we looked for 6 months, in dozens of neighborhoods and we just plain liked Plano the most. Now I'm not saying that we don't have our fair share of wackos but look around, every city does.

I'll admit, if I were a twenty-something single guy I'd probably be living somewhere downtown. I just think painting Plano with such a broad brush is ridiculous.