Plano as The New Peoria
Virginia Postrel has authored an enlightening article in the December issue of Texas Monthly addressing the perception of Plano as the bellwether for "red-state" America.
Read the whole thing (registration required - visit Virginia's site to get the special password).
Postrel's last sentence, in which she refers to "child centered Plano" gave me pause, since I hesitate to call myself a child-centered person (I honestly try to have a life). But then I read this story on marriage and caste in America:
http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_1_marriage_gap.html
It is a sobering report on what happens when there are not enough child-centered parents who are on a Mission (the author gives it a capital M) to shape children into productive citizens.