Dallas, Texas

Dallas redirects here. For other uses see Dallas (disambiguation).

A portion of the Downtown skyline.

The Dallas, Texas flag SeaWIFS (2003) satellite image looking east over the southern USA, showing the location of Dallas and Forth Worth

Dallas is one of the ten largest cities in the United States and the heart of the largest metropolitan area in Texas. It is the county seat of Dallas County and small portions of the city also extend into the neighboring counties of Collin County, Denton County, Rockwall County, and Kaufman County.

Dallas is the largest city of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, a large metropolitan area in North Texas. As of the U.S. Census 2000, Dallas had a total population of 1,188,580 and the Metroplex had a population of 5,161,544 making it the fifth largest United States metropolitan area and one of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the world. A more recent U.S. Census estimate puts the Metroplex population at 5,589,670 for 2003.

History

Dallas skyline from a levee on the Trinity River.

The first European to visit the Dallas area was probably Athanase de Mezieres, in 1778. De Mezieres, a Frenchman then in the service of the King of Spain, probably crossed the West Fork of the Trinity River (Texas) near present Fort Worth, having followed the western edge of the Eastern Cross Timbers from the Tawakoni Village on the Brazos River near present Waco. He then proceeded north to the [[Red River(Texas)]]. De Mezieres wrote; "It is worthy to note that from the Brazos River on which the Tuacanas are established, and until one reaches the river which bathes the village of the Taovayzes (Red River), one sees on the right a forest that the natives appropriately call the Grand Forest. ...it is very dense, but not very wide. It seems to be there as a guide to even the most inexperienced, and to give refuge in this dangerous region to those who, few in number and lacking in courage, wish to go from one village to another." His biographer, Bolton, was convinced de Mezieres was describing the Eastern Cross Timbers and the route would have him crossing the West Fork of the Trinity River between the present Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas. The city of Dallas was founded by John Neely Bryan in 1841 after first surveying the area in 1839. Bryan, who shared Sam Houston's insight into the wisdom of Indian customs, must also have realized that these Caddo indian trails intersected at one of the few natural fords for hundreds of miles along the wide Trinity floodplain. At what became known as "Bryan's Bluff" the river, which was an impassable barrier of mud and water between late fall and early spring, narrowed like an hourglass where it crossed a ridge of Austin chalk, providing a hard rock ford that became the natural N-S route between Republic of Texas settlements to the south and those of the expanding USA to the north. The N-S route and the ford at Bryan's Bluff became more important when the US annexed Texas in 1845. Dallas County was established in 1846 and was named after George Mifflin Dallas, who was the eleventh United States Vice President at the time. However, the origin of the city's name is debatable. Dallas was so called by its residents at least as early as 1843 and there are four theories as to the origin of the city's name:

• Named after George Mifflin Dallas;
• Named after George Dallas' father Alexander James Dallas, a commodore who was stationed in the Gulf of Mexico and was the United States Secretary of the Treasury around the end of the War of 1812;
• Named in a town-naming contest in 1842;
• Named after the friend of founder John Neely Bryan's son, who later stated that his father had said he had named the town "after my friend Dallas" (a person whose identity is not certain).

Dallas was formally incorporated as a town in 1856, and in 1871 became a city.

In 1855, a group of European artists and musicians set up a utopian community west of Dallas called La Reunion. When that venture collapsed in 1857, many of the artists moved to Dallas where they established the base of the artist culture that exists today in the Deep Ellum neighborhood near downtown. In the 1970s, Reunion Arena and Reunion Tower (a trademark of the skyline) were named in honor of the La Reunion colony.

Dallas was a pretty insignificant place until after the American Civil War.

In 1871, railroads were beginning to approach the area and Dallas city leaders did not intend to be left out. They paid the Houston and Central Texas Railroad $5,000 to shift its route 20 miles (32 km) to the west and build its north-south tracks through Dallas, rather than through Corsicana as planned. A year later, Dallas leaders could not pay off the Texas and Pacific Railroad and so tricked it into running its east-west line though Dallas by having a rider attached to a state law which required the railroad to build its tracks through Browder Springs—which turned out to be just south of Main Street. The major north-south and east-west Texas railroad routes intersected in Dallas in 1873, thus ensuring its future as a commercial center.

Dallas quickly became the center of trade in cotton, grain, and even buffalo. As it entered the 20th century, Dallas transformed from an agricultural center to a center of banking, insurance, and other businesses. In 1930, oil was discovered 100 miles (160 km) east of Dallas and the city quickly became the financial center for the oil industry in Texas and Oklahoma. Then in 1958 the integrated-circuit computer chip was invented in Dallas by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments. By the 1980s, when the oil industry mostly relocated to Houston, Dallas was beginning to benefit from a burgeoning technology boom (driven by the growing computer and telecom industries), while continuing to be a center of banking and business. In the 1990s, Dallas became known as Texas' Silicon Valley, or the "Silicon Prairie."

Geology

North Texas sits near the edge of the North American craton. The greater Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex sits on gently tilted sediments. The region west of Weatherford, Texas consists of Pennsylvanian sediments that tilt a few degrees west. These sediments were deformed when Gondwana collided with Laurasia to form Pangea about 300 million years ago (Ma). A great mountain range formed, the Marathon- Ouachita Mountain-Appalachian Mountain-Variscan cordillera. This collapsed during the Triassic and Jurassic to form the Atlantic Ocean-Gulf of Mexico basin. Sea level rose as the supercontinent Pangea broke up. The Pennsylvanian mountains of DFW were eroded for about 190 million years until the mountains were wore down. The DFW metroplex sprawls across a 100km wide N-S trending belt of Cretaceous sediments. Fort Worth in the west is neatly built on Early Cretaceous (Comanche Series) and Dallas in the east is built on Late Cretaceous (Gulf Series) sediments. DFW lay on the beach about 110 Ma, during early Cretaceous time. The water kept rising for another 30-50 million years, so that by the time the coccolithophorid Austin chalk was deposited, the "Octopus Garden" that became DFW lay 100m or more below the sea surface. The inexorable rise in sealevel was only interrupted by tectonic rumblings in southern Arkansas and Oklahoma, shedding copious amounts of Woodbine Sandstone to the south. These sandstones underlie the cities of Denton, Grapevine, and Arlington, Texas. The Cretaceous sediments dip a degree or so the the east, so the Cretaceous sediments get younger towards the east. Sediments deposited during the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, when the dinosaurs were killed, lie near the town of Terrell, at the eastern edge of the DFW metroplex.

People enjoy searching for fossils in the rocks around Dallas. Remnants of dinosaurs and Late Cretaceous marine reptiles such as Mosasaur are found.

The Trinity River (Texas) has been important in shaping the DFW metroplex. Dallas was situated at the best ford, downstream from where the Elm Fork joins the main stream, where the river flows SE over the chalk. This provided a place where travellers need only cross the river once, at a place with relatively firm landings and bottoms. This was the best place to cross the Trinity from the earliest days, best for fordings, ferries, and bridges. During the days of the Republic of Texas, the DFW metroplex was mostly uninhabited by Europeans, but settlers began to find their way N in the 1840's. The route north naturally followed the low hills and gentle ridges of Austin chalk hills to the river ford that soon became Dallas. The future site of Dallas was selected by Bryan as the place for his trading post to overlook the ferry that he operated at the crossing. Dallas was also affected subtly by much younger geologic formations related to an older, more vigorous Trinity River. Changing Pleistocene-Holocene climate had two effects on the Trinity River: It caused downcutting (few people know that there is a 100m-deep buried canyon beneath the Trinity in Dallas) and a wetter climate caused much more water to flow in the river. The greater river flow generated great sedimentary terraces. From time to time these terrace deposits reveal bones of extinct giant mammals, such as Mastodons and Mammoths. The Pleistocene terraces affected the development of Dallas, providing a rich alluvial soil and a perched aquifer, very useful indeed during the early years. Downtown Dallas is built on a series of these terraces, rising subtly eastward from the Trinity river. The DFW meroplex had an additional, if subtle, geologic advantage. The Trinity is not good for navigation by boats but is great for drinking. Trinity River water is better than either of the larger rivers to the north and south, the Red River (Texas) and the Brazos River. The larger rivers are longer and flow over salt-bearing Permian sediments, well west of the Trinity headwaters. The Trinity is consequently sweeter water than either the larger Brazos or Red rivers. Life was better near sweet water, and this simple fact helped DFW prosper relative to settlements on the larger rivers to the north and south. Because the Trinity is not suitable for navigation, Dallas could not have grown to be a large city until the railroad arrived, which happened early in Dallas' history, in the early 1870's. Dallas is thus truly a modern city, because it could not have grown so large until mechanical transportation systems made the Trinity disadvantage in river navigation insignificant.

Geography and Climate

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 997.1 km² (385.0 mi²). 887.2 km² (342.5 mi²) of it is land and 110.0 km² (42.5 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 11.03% water. These statistics are only for the city of Dallas proper. In fact, Dallas is a small part of the much larger urbanized area called the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. About one in every four Texans lives in the DFW metroplex.

Dallas, and its surrounding area, is mostly flat and lies at an elevation ranging from 450 to 550 feet (140 to 170 m). An escarpment rises another 200 feet (60 m) in southern Dallas in the neighborhoods of Oak Cliff and Cockrell Hill, Texas and continues through the city of Cedar Hill.

A simulated-color satellite image of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, taken by NASA's Landsat 7 satellite. Dallas makes up much of the right half of the urbanized area. Red is vegetated area surrounding DFW. Notice also the many reservoirs in the area.

The DFW metroplex at night, photographed from the International Space Station in early 2003. Dallas is the larger nexus of light on the right (east), Fort Worth the smaller on the left (west). Blurriness over parts of the image is caused by clouds. Courtesy NASA.

The Trinity River is a major Texas waterway that passes from the northwest right by the southern portion of downtown Dallas as it heads southeast to Houston. The river is flanked on both sides with a 50 foot (15 m) earthen levee to keep that part of the city from flooding. Several bridges traverse the river connecting southern Dallas to downtown Dallas. Businesses and businessmen, like Belo and Ross Perot, Jr., have pushed in recent years to build a multi-million-dollar, landmark bridge over the river and convert that section of the river into a park area with nearby commercial and retail services somewhat similar to the River Walk in San Antonio or Townlake in Austin. Some proponents claim this development would bring more life, commerce, revenue and lower crime to downtown Dallas and poorer, southern Dallas. Some critics charge the project is a facade to serve special, financial interests of businessmen. Residents barely approved a bond proposal in 1998 to fund the Trinity River Project and work has progressed slowly towards implementing it. Ron Kirk, Dallas' first African American mayor, championed the project during his term as mayor as he did the new American Airlines Center in downtown. His successor, mayor Laura Miller—sometimes referred to as Dallas' first reform mayor—won the vacancy left by Kirk when he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. Miller won in part based on her platform she would focus on the city's basic needs like roads and other infrastructure and city employees' pay; services some claimed were neglected at the cost of special projects like the American Airlines Center.

White Rock Lake is Dallas's other significant water feature. The lake and surrounding park is a popular destination in the Lake Highlands/Casa Linda neighborhoods for boaters, joggers, bikers, skaters and for related activities. The lake also boasts the 66 acre (270,000 m²) Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden on its shore.

Dallas lies near the bottom of a tornado region that runs through the prairie lands of the midwest. In the spring, cool fronts moving from Canada collide with warm, humid air streaming in from the Gulf Coast. When these fronts meet over Dallas, severe storms are generated with spectacular lightning shows, torrents of rain, large hail and, at times, tornadoes.

Dallas gets about 30 inches (760 mm) of rain per year, much of which is delivered in the spring time. The climate of Dallas is classified a humid subtropical climate, yet this part of Texas also tends to get hot, dry winds from the north and west in the summer. In the winter, the winds are cool, which can cause the region to fall below freezing occasionally. A few inches of snow for a day or two falls about once each winter, and about every other winter the cool air from the north and the humid air from the south lead to freezing rain, which usually causes the city to come to a screeching halt for a day or two if the roads and highways become dangerously slick. Regardless, winters are relatively mild compared to the Texas Panhandle and other states to the north. Dallas winters are occasionally interspersed with Indian summers.

Location of Dallas, Texas

Spring and fall and the pleasant, moderate temperatures accompanying those seasons are somewhat short-lived in Dallas. However short the season is, residents and visitors appreciate the beauty of the vibrant wildflowers (such as the bluebonnet, Indian paintbrush and other flora) which bloom in spring and are planted around the highways throughout Texas. In the spring the weather can also be quite volatile and change quickly in a matter of minutes. The cliche about volatile climates popular in various parts of the US—"if you don't like the weather, wait a little while and it'll change"—applies well to Dallas' spring weather. Many consider autumn, around late September and October, to be the best time to visit the Metroplex. Yet many events are also scheduled for the more volatile season of spring.

Ongoing comparisons are made between Dallas' summer weather and Houston's. Texans generally agree Houston is significantly more humid and Dallas is slightly hotter, although given Houston's humidity it may have a higher heat index than Dallas.

Demographics

Pedestrians in Downtown

As of the census² of 2000, there are 1,188,580 people, 451,833 households, and 266,581 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,339.7/km² (3,469.9/mi²). There are 484,117 housing units at an average density of 545.7/km² (1,413.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 50.83% White, 25.91% Black or African American, 0.54% Native American, 2.70% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 17.24% from other races, and 2.72% from two or more races. 35.55% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. As Mexicans flood into southern Dallas along the I-35 corridor through Laredo, Texas and San Antonio, Hispanics outnumbered African-Americans for the first time in the 2000 census as the largest minority group in Dallas.

There are 451,833 households out of which 30.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.8% are married couples living together, 14.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% are non-families. 32.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.58 and the average family size is 3.37.

In the city the population is spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 35.3% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 30 years. For every 100 females there are 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 100.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $37,628, and the median income for a family is $40,921. Males have a median income of $31,149 versus $28,235 for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,183. 17.8% of the population and 14.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 25.1% of those under the age of 18 and 13.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

The crime rate in Dallas has been ranked first in the country's largest cities from 1998 to 2003. While most areas are peaceful, certain neighborhoods are avoided after dusk; near large tourist attractions, as well as sections of south Oak Cliff near the Dallas Zoo, neighborhoods around Fair Park and south Dallas (mostly everything south of I-30), and areas around large concentrations of older apartments (>10 years old).

For a list of surrounding cities and towns, see:

• Collin County
• Dallas County
• Denton County
• Ellis County
• Johnson County
• Kaufman County
• Rockwall County
• Tarrant County

Economy

The Dallas/Fort Worth area is sometimes called "Texas' Silicon Valley". Also, there are more than 40,000 telecommunication employees in the "Telecom Corridor" housing such companies as Southwestern Bell, AT&T, Alcatel, Ericsson, Fujitsu, MCI, Nortel Networks, Rockwell, and Sprint. Central Dallas is supported by more than 100 miles (160 km) of fiber optic cable. According to the Dallas Women's Covenant, there are more than 81,000 women-owned firms in metropolitan Dallas.

Although the Telecom industry was hit hard in the latest recession, most businesses in Dallas performed better on average than other regional economies.

Major companies based in and around Dallas

Companies based in the Dallas city limits:

AMR Corporation (parent company of American Airlines), Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Radio Shack, and Pier 1 Imports are based in Fort Worth. id Software is based in Mesquite. ExxonMobil, Michael's Stores, and Zale Corporation are headquartered in Irving. Electronic Data Systems, Frito Lay, Dr Pepper and JCPenney are headquartered in Plano. FUNimation is headquartered in North Richland Hills. Educational Products, Inc. is headquartered in Carrollton. Sabre Holdings, the owner of the Sabre System, is headquartered in Southlake.

Halliburton Energy Services was once based in Dallas, but moved to Houston in 2003.

Transportation

Airports

Dallas is served by two commercial airports: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (known as DFW International) and Dallas Love Field. In addition, Dallas Executive Airport (formerly Redbird Airport), is a general aviation airport located within the city limits, and Addison Airport is another general aviation airport located just outside the city limits in the suburb of Addison. Two more general aviation airports are located in the outer suburb of McKinney, and on the west side of the Metroplex, two general aviation airports are located in Fort Worth.

DFW International Airport is located in the suburbs north of and equidistant to downtown Fort Worth and downtown Dallas. In terms of size, DFW is the largest airport in the state, the second largest in the United States, and third largest in the world. In terms of traffic, DFW is the busiest in the state, fourth busiest in the United States, and sixth busiest in the world. DFW is also home base to American Airlines, the world's largest airline.

Love Field is located within the city limits of Dallas, 6 miles (10 km) northwest of downtown, and is headquarters to Southwest Airlines. Under the Federal "Wright Amendment" and "Shelby Amendment" laws, no large jet air service is allowed from Dallas Love Field to any point beyond Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Mississippi, and Alabama. As such, Southwest and Continental Express are the only major airlines flying out of that airport. Ongoing efforts to relax or abandon these restrictions have not succeeded so far. (See Love Field Airport for a history of the Wright Amendment.)

Trains and Buses

Passengers at White Rock Station on DART's Blue Line.

Passengers at Union Station.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is the Dallas area public transportation company, providing buses, rail, and HOV lanes. DART began operating the first light rail system in Texas (and the Southwest United States) in 1996 and continues to expand its coverage. Currently, two light rail lines are in service. The red line goes through Oak Cliff, Downtown, Uptown, North Dallas, Richardson, and Plano. The blue line goes through South Dallas, Downtown, Uptown, North Dallas, and Garland. The red and blue lines are conjoined in between 8th & Corinth Station (In Oak Cliff) and Mockingbird Station (in North Dallas.) The two lines service Cityplace Station, the only subway station in the Southwest United States. Two more lines will be in service by the end of the decade bringing the light rail transit mileage to at least 93, the orange and purple. This will connect southeast Dallas to far north Carrollton and LBJ Freeway to DFW Int'l Airport; both via Dallas Love Field. The Yellow line will meet Denton County's future commuter rail system. Further ambitions include expanding the commuter rail network in the region to over 250 miles; expanding the DART light rail network to over 150 miles with a downtown subway included; expanding the M-Line streetcar; starting a modern streetcar line in Fort Worth; utilizing the elevated Las Colinas Automated Personal Transit system with DART rail connections. The DART light rail system remained the only light rail system in Texas until Houston opened its starter light rail system (one line running less than 10 miles) in 2004. Fort Worth's smaller public transit system connects with Dallas' via a commuter rail line (The TRE) connecting downtown Dallas (Union Station) with downtown Fort Worth (Intermodal Transit Center) and several points in between. The system of light rail transit, especially through downtown, has skyrocketed land values and has sparked a residential living boom in Downtown. Although the system is increasingly popular, most people in the Metroplex still choose to drive their vehicles rather than take public transportation.

Freeways and Tollways

See List of Dallas freeways for detailed information on each freeway, such as official name, route, and termination points.

Neighborhoods of Dallas

Downtown Dallas as seen from Lake Cliff.

Downtown as seen from Woodall Rodgers.

Downtown:

• Arts District
• Farmers Market
• Main Street
• Reunion
• West End

East Dallas:

• Lower Greenville
• Deep Ellum
• Fair Park
• Lakewood

North Dallas:

• Lake Highlands
• Market Center
• Park Cities - Highland Park, Texas and University Park, Texas (governed independently of Dallas)
• Pleasant Grove
• Preston Center
• Preston Hollow
• Stemmons
• Telecom corridor - (Richardson)

Oak Cliff:

• Bishop Arts District
• Kessler
• Kidd Springs
• Lake Cliff

South Dallas:

• Cedars
• Cockrell Hill - (governed independently of Dallas)

Uptown:

• Cityplace
• International Center
• Knox
• Lomac
• Oak Lawn
• State-Thomas
• Turtle Creek
• Victory

People of Dallas

Dallasites are said to consider themselves more sophisticated than those in other parts of Texas, especially Fort Worth. Because of the economic prowess of the region, many who live there had come from other U.S. states or countries worldwide. Dallasites eat out about four times every week, which is the third highest rate in the country. Dallas has two times the number of restaurants per person than New York City. Dallasites are very fond of their local teams especially "America's Team," the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are well loved by the locals, even after many lackluster or losing seasons, and even if another local team is a leader in its sport. Sports calendars and other memorabilia are very common, and on Sundays people tend to watch sports games on television.

One drawback is that the city of Dallas has the highest crime rate among cities of 1,000,000 people or more (as of 2005, only nine cities in the United States do. Detroit, Michigan has a higher crime rate, but it, after losing population, dropped out of the 1,000,000+ ranking and Dallas was pushed to the top.) Police Chief Terrell Bolton was fired by then—city manager Ted Benavides, a