Map of Dallas Texas Area | What is Dallas Known for?
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Why Should I visit Dallas?
Dallas is a significant urban and commercial area in north Texas, long associated with oil, cattle, cotton, and cowboys — whether or not these perceptions remain accurate. Considering that, actually, what is Dallas known for today?
The City of Dallas is home to over 1.3 million people and is part of the sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area — a city now known for its dining and shopping opportunities, a prominent sports franchise, and as the location where one of the most significant events in American history occurred. The city also lent its name to a popular television drama from the late 1970s through the 1980s.
The city is the 9th most-populous in the United States, but the overall metropolitan area (along with Fort Worth and a significant number of suburban communities) is the 4th largest such statistical area in the nation, with an estimated 7.5 million people. It’s the biggest metro area in the South.
Some might say Dallas is known for cattle, oil drilling, and cotton production. That may have been true in days past; however, in recent years the region’s economy developed and became quite modern and diversified. Those old industries remain, but they no longer are the economic drivers that attracted the railroads and federal highways to pass through Dallas long ago, bringing with them a population boom that continues to this day.
What is Dallas Known For?
It’s difficult to pinpoint a single thing that Dallas is known for — but there are certain institutions, places, and occurrences that come to mind for many people. Here are some of them, in random order.
Dallas Cowboys
The star logo of the city’s professional football league team is among the most-recognized in the sports world, rivaling the intertwined NY for the New York Yankees. Add to the team’s success since the early 1960s the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, a group marketed well over the years and often held up as an example of cheerleading excellence. Overall the Cowboys continue to claim the “America’s Team” title.
Kennedy Assassination
Visitors still are attracted to John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza, established near the location where the U.S. president was assassinated. A museum on the 6th floor of the building where the assassin reportedly made the shot, is devoted to the November 1963 event and the subsequent national mourning. The Texas Theater, where the assassin was captured, is a national landmark; and other Dallas-area museums recognize the tragedy including the JFK Memorial Site in Dallas, and the JFK Tribute in Fort Worth.
‘Dallas’ Television Series
The catchphrase “Who shot J.R.?” became a cultural phenomenon in 1980 when the television series “Dallas” captured viewers’ imaginations with a cliffhanger that lasted eight months. The prime time drama portrayed lives of families rich from the cattle ranching and oil industries, who happened to constantly feud. It had episodes filmed in Dallas, or on ranches nearby in Parker and Frisco, Texas.
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
The fourth-busiest airport in the world in terms of the number of aircraft, and the 12th busiest judging by passengers, set in a 27-square-mile aero complex, has hosted an innumerable amount of visitors over the years — including thousands during layovers in this centrally located U.S. transportation hub. Besides the massive airport, Dallas also is known as a crossroads for dozens of major freeways and highways, as well as for railroads, boosting a thriving convention center.
7-Eleven
Originally named for the special hours it remained open as a courtesy to locals, this franchise is known nationwide for its convenience shopping and cold-beverage Slurpees. It started as an ice-selling business in Dallas before adding other for-sale items like eggs and milk — and franchising across America.
Highland Park Village
Fans of big regional shopping malls might plan a visit to this place, the first self-contained shopping center in the United States when it opened 90 years ago. It remains home to known retail outlets like Christian Dior, and Saint Laurent Paris.
Living in Dallas
Today, Dallas has been called a cosmopolitan urban center, with a number of restaurants, shopping centers, and general leisure opportunities. The Dallas-Fort Worth area is dominated by suburban communities filled mostly with single-family residences, enjoying ample parkland and highly rated schools.
Among the best areas to live in the Dallas area include:
- Coppell. This Dallas suburb, population 41,645, provides a dense suburbia along with many restaurants, coffee shops, and parks facilities.
- Preston Highlands. This neighborhood in Dallas is home to only about 4,300 people, but its urban-suburban blend is attractive for young professionals and families alike.
- Uptown. Younger professionals might want to join the 20,000-plus residents who appreciate this enclave of mostly rental properties with a short average commute time to downtown.
- Oak Cliff. These communities totaling about 275,000 people is a mid-point between young and old residents, and owned homes versus renters.
- Frisco. This suburb in adjacent Collin County houses about 177,000 people comfortably, with a predominance of home-ownership, parks and well-rated public schools.
- Park Cities. These 43,690 residents enjoy a relatively short 19-minute average commute to downtown, and almost three-quarters of its homes are owner-occupied providing solid community pride.
- Highland Park. This luxury community about 6 miles north of downtown Dallas features single-family homes with a median value over $1.4 million, and household incomes exceed $165,000 per year.
- Arlington. This suburb is home to new stadiums for both the Cowboys and Texas Rangers in Major League Baseball.
Final Notes of Living in Dallas
The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area has one of the largest populations among the big urban regions in America — and it’s also growing as fast as most others, due to its low-to-moderate cost of living, a robust economy with plenty of jobs, and thorough transportation options. With thousands of newcomers coming each year, the city continues to focus on being a forward-looking economic center with lots of business innovation, while at the same time grappling with future freeway capacities.
Often considering itself a “contemporary city,” Dallas is very ethnically diverse, with about a quarter of its residents African-American, and over a third Latino. Residents appreciate a robust job climate, as about 6,000 locate their corporate headquarters in Dallas, as does the American Heart Association.
