Coordinates: 32°46′28″N 96°48′05″W / 32.7745799°N 96.801484°W / 32.7745799; -96.801484

Aerial overview of the complex

The Dallas Convention Center, originally the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, is a meeting hall, event/convention center and civic center in the Convention Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA). The original Dallas Memorial Auditorium was designed by George Leighton (L.) Dahl in 1957. The dome is supported by one column. It hold approx 10,000 seats. Dahl was responsible for the renowned Art Deco building at the Dallas Fair Park, as well as countless other Texas landmarks. The Convention Center additions were designed by Larry Oltmanns who was a Design Partner with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill at the time.

History[link]

The Dallas Memorial Auditorium was originally constructed in 1957 near the intersection of Canton and Akard Streets. In the 1970s, the center was expanded and renamed the Dallas Convention Center; the expansion was designed by local architects Omniplan. The center was expanded again in 1984 and once more in 1994,^[1] when Dallas Area Rapid Transit constructed the Convention Center Station underneath the west-wing of the facility, connecting it to the Red and Blue light rail lines. The most-recent addition to the facility was completed in 2002.^[1] Together with Reunion Arena, it was an emergency shelter for thousands of Hurricane Katrina refugees in September 2005. Sadly, the Auditorium is no longer used for concerts or very many other events.

While on a five city tour in the final week of 1976, Elvis Presley performed here on December 28 in an amazing live show that was recorded and later released on the Follow That Dream collectors label titled "Showtime!"

On 1 April 1977, Led Zeppelin opened what would become their last ever tour together in the Dallas Memorial Auditorium.

In October 1978, Queen played at the Convention center during their US tour, and the music video for "Fat Bottomed Girls" was filmed at the center.^[2]

About[link]

The center is over 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m²) in size and contains over 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m²) of exhibit space. The largest contiguous exhibit-space in the structure is 726,726 square feet (67,515 m²). A 203,000-square-foot (18,900 m²) column-free exhibit hall in the center is the largest of its kind in the United States.^[3]

The east side of the structure contains the original element of the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, a 9,816-seat arena. The complex also houses a 1,740-person theater, 105 meeting rooms, and 2 gigantic ballrooms. In terms of accessibility, the world's largest heliport/vertiport sits atop the structure and 75 truck berths line its docks.^[3]

In May 2009, voters approved construction of the Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel, a 1,000 room hotel that is attached to the Convention Center. It opened in late 2011, under budget and ahead of schedule.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dallas Convention Center
• Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau
• World Class Memories: VIRTUAL WCCW TOUR - DALLAS MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM
• [1]

Dallas
—  City  —
Dallas skyline at night from the Stemmons Corridor
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): "Big D", "D-Town", "The 214", "Triple D"
Location in Dallas County and the state of Texas
Dallas Location in the United States
Coordinates: 32°46′58″N 96°48′14″W / 32.78278°N 96.80389°W / 32.78278; -96.80389Coordinates: 32°46′58″N 96°48′14″W / 32.78278°N 96.80389°W / 32.78278; -96.80389
Country	United States
State	Texas
Incorporated	February 2, 1856
Counties	Dallas, Collin, Denton, Rockwall, Kaufman
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
• Body	Dallas City Council
• Mayor	Mike Rawlings
Area
• City	385.8 sq mi (999.3 km2)
• Land	340.5 sq mi (881.9 km2)
• Water	45.3 sq mi (117.4 km2)
Elevation	430 ft (131 m)
Population (2010 United States Census)[1]
• City	1,197,816 (9th U.S.)
• Density	3,518/sq mi (1,358.2/km2)
• Metro	6,371,773 (4th U.S.)
• Demonym	Dallasite
Time zone	Central (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	Central (UTC-5)
Area code	214, 469, 972
FIPS code	48-19000[2]
GNIS feature ID	1380944[3]
ZIP code prefix	752,753
Primary Airport	Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport- DFW (Major/International)
Secondary Airport	Dallas Love Field- DAL (Major)
Website	www.dallascityhall.com

Night view of Elm Street, January 1942

Dallas ( /ˈdæləs/) is the third-largest city in the state of Texas^[4][5] and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States.^[6][7][8] Divided between Collin, Dallas, Denton, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties, the city had a population of 1,197,816 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau.^[9]

The city is the largest economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area (the DFW MSA) that according to the March 2010 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of 6,371,773.^[10] The metroplex economy is the sixth largest in the United States, with a 2010 gross metropolitan product of $374 billion.^[11]

Dallas was founded in 1841 and was formally incorporated as a city in February 1856. The city's economy is primarily based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, computer technology, energy, healthcare and medical research, transportation and logistics. The city is home to the third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the nation.^[12] Located in North Texas and a major city in the American South, Dallas is the main core of the largest inland metropolitan area in the United States that lacks any navigable link to the sea.^[13]

The city's prominence arose from its historical importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries, and its position along numerous railroad lines. With the advent of the interstate highway system in the 1950s and 1960s, Dallas became an east/west and north/south focal point of the interstate system with the convergence of four major interstate highways in the city, along with a fifth interstate loop around the city. Dallas developed a strong industrial and financial sector, and a major inland port, due largely to the presence of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, one of the largest and busiest airports in the world.^[14]

In the latest rankings released on September 14, 2011, Dallas was rated as an Alpha- world city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network and is the only city in the South Central and Southwest regions to achieve that status. Dallas is also ranked 14th in world rankings of GDP by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.^[15]

History[link]

Before Texas was claimed in the 18th century as a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain by the Spanish Empire, the Dallas area was inhabited by the Caddo people. Later, France also claimed the area, but in 1819 the Adams-Onís Treaty made the Red River the northern boundary of New Spain, officially placing the future location of Dallas well within Spanish territory.^[16] The area remained under Spanish rule until 1821, when Mexico declared independence from Spain and the area became part of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. In 1836, the Republic of Texas broke off from Mexico to become an independent nation.^[17] In 1839, Warren Angus Ferris surveyed the area around present-day Dallas. Two and a half years later, John Neely Bryan established a permanent settlement near a river he found and called that settlement Dallas. The Republic of Texas was then annexed by the United States in 1845 and Dallas County was established the following year. Dallas was formally incorporated as a city in February 1856. The name of the city has uncertain origins. See History of Dallas, Texas (1839-1855) for more information on that.

Geography[link]

Dallas is the county seat of Dallas County. Portions of the city extend into neighboring Collin, Denton, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 385.8 square miles (999.3 km²), 340.5 square miles (881.9 km²) of it being land and 45.3 square miles (117.4 km²) of it (11.75%) water.^[18] Dallas makes up one-fifth of the much larger urbanized area known as the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, in which one quarter of all Texans live.

Topography[link]

Dallas and its surrounding area are mostly flat; the city itself lies at elevations ranging from 450 feet (137 m) to 550 feet (168 m). The western edge of the Austin Chalk Formation, a limestone escarpment (also known as the "White Rock Escarpment"), rises 200 feet (61 m) and runs roughly north-south through Dallas County. South of the Trinity River, the uplift is particularly noticeable in the neighborhoods of Oak Cliff and the adjacent cities of Cockrell Hill, Cedar Hill, Grand Prairie, and Irving. Marked variations in terrain are also found in cities immediately to the west in Tarrant County surrounding Fort Worth, as well as along Turtle Creek north of Downtown.

Dallas, like many other cities in the world, was founded along a river. The city was founded at the location of a "white rock crossing" of the Trinity River, where it was easier for wagons to cross the river in the days before ferries or bridges. The Trinity River, though not usefully navigable, is the major waterway through the city. Its path through Dallas is paralleled by Interstate 35E along the Stemmons Corridor, then south alongside the western portion of Downtown and past south Dallas and Pleasant Grove, where the river is paralleled by Interstate 45 until it exits the city and heads southeast towards Houston. The river is flanked on both sides by 50 feet (15 m) tall earthen levees to protect the city from frequent floods.^[19] Since it was rerouted in the late 1920s, the river has been little more than a drainage ditch within a floodplain for several miles above and below downtown Dallas, with a more normal course further upstream and downstream, but as Dallas began shifting towards postindustrial society, public outcry about the lack of aesthetic and recreational use of the river ultimately gave way to the Trinity River Project,^[20] which was begun in the early 2000s and is scheduled to be completed in the 2010s. If the project materializes fully, it promises improvements to the riverfront in the form of man-made lakes, new park facilities and trails, and transportation upgrades.

The project area will reach for over 20 miles (32 km) in length within the city, while the overall geographical land area addressed by the Land Use Plan is approximately 44,000 acres (180 km²) in size—about 20% of the land area in Dallas. Green space along the river will encompass approximately 10,000 acres (40 km²), making it one of the largest and diverse urban parks in the world.^[21]

White Rock Lake, a reservoir constructed at the beginning of the 20th century, is Dallas' other significant water feature. The lake and surrounding park is a popular destination for boaters, rowers, joggers, and bikers, as well as visitors seeking peaceful respite from the city at the 66-acre (267,000 m²) Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, located on the lake's eastern shore. White Rock Creek feeds into White Rock Lake, and then exits on to the Trinity River southeast of downtown Dallas. Trails along White Rock Creek are part of the extensive Dallas County Trails System.

Bachman Lake, just northwest of Love Field Airport, is a smaller lake also popularly used for recreation. Northeast of the city is Lake Ray Hubbard, a vast 22,745-acre (92 km²) reservoir located in an extension of Dallas surrounded by the suburbs of Garland, Rowlett, Rockwall, and Sunnyvale.^[22] To the west of the city is Mountain Creek Lake, once home to the Naval Air Station Dallas (Hensley Field) and a number of defense aircraft manufacturers.^[23] North Lake, a small body of water in an extension of the city limits surrounded by Irving and Coppell, initially served as a water source for a nearby power plant but is now being targeted for redevelopment as a recreational lake due to its proximity to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, a plan that the lake's neighboring cities oppose.^[24]

Climate[link]

Dallas has a humid subtropical climate, though it is located in a region that also tends to receive warm, dry winds from the north and west in the summer, bringing temperatures well over 100 °F (38 °C) at times and heat-humidity indexes soaring to as high as 117 °F (47 °C). When only temperature itself is accounted for, the north central Texas region where Dallas is located is one of the hottest in the United States during the summer months, usually trailing only the Mojave Desert basin of Arizona, southern Nevada, and southeastern California.

Winters in Dallas are generally mild, with normal daytime highs ranging from 55 °F (13 °C) to 70 °F (21 °C) and normal nighttime lows falling in between 30 °F (−1 °C) and 45 °F (7 °C). A day with clear, sunny skies, a high of 63 °F (17 °C), and a low of 36 °F (2 °C) would thus be a very typical one during the winter. However, strong cold fronts known as "Blue Northers" sometimes pass through the Dallas region, plummeting nightly lows below 25 °F (−4 °C) for up to a few days at a time and keeping daytime highs in a struggle to surpass 40 °F (4 °C). Snow accumulation is usually seen in the city at least once every winter, and snowfall generally occurs 1–2 days out of the year for an annual average of 1.7 inches (4.3 cm). Some areas in the region, however, receive more than that, while other areas receive negligible snowfall or none at all.^[25] A couple of times each winter in Dallas, warm and humid air from the south will override cold, dry air, resulting in freezing rain or ice and causing disruptions in the city if the roads and highways become slick. On the other hand, daytime highs above 70 °F (21 °C) are not unusual and will occur at least several days each winter month—roughly the same number of days each December, January, and February that low temperatures fall below 30 °F (−1 °C) or that high temperatures fail to reach 50 °F (10 °C). Over the past 15 years, Dallas has averaged 31 annual nights at or below freezing, with the winter of 1999–2000 holding the all-time record as having the fewest freezing nights, with 14. During this same span of 15 years, the temperature in the region has only twice dropped below 15 °F (−9 °C), though it will generally fall below 20 °F (−7 °C) about once every other year.^[26] In sum, extremes and variations in winter weather are more readily seen in Dallas and Texas as a whole than along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, due to the state's location in the interior of the North American continent and the lack of any mountainous terrain to the north to block out Arctic weather systems.

Spring and autumn bring pleasant weather to the area. Vibrant wildflowers (such as the bluebonnet, Indian paintbrush and other flora) bloom in spring and are planted around the highways throughout Texas.^[27] Springtime weather can be quite volatile, but temperatures themselves are mild. The weather in Dallas is also generally pleasant from late September to early December and on many winter days, but unlike in the springtime, major storms rarely form in the area.

Snow on the campus of Southern Methodist University in nearby University Park

Each spring, cool fronts moving south from the North will collide with warm, humid air streaming in from the Gulf Coast, leading to severe thunderstorms with lightning, torrents of rain, hail, and occasionally, tornadoes. Over time, tornadoes have probably been the biggest natural threat to the city, as it is located near the heart of Tornado Alley.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture places Dallas in Plant Hardiness Zone 8a.^[28][29] However, mild winter temperatures in the past 15 to 20 years have encouraged the horticulture of some cold-sensitive plants such as Washingtonia filifera and Washingtonia robusta palms. According to the American Lung Association, Dallas has the 12th highest air pollution among U.S. cities, ranking it behind Los Angeles and Houston.^[30] Much of the air pollution in Dallas and the surrounding area comes from a hazardous materials incineration plant in the small town of Midlothian and from concrete installations in neighbouring Ellis County.^[31]

The city's all-time recorded low temperature is −8 °F (−22 °C), set on February 12, 1899, while the all-time recorded high is 113 °F (45 °C), set on June 26 and 27, 1980.^[32] The average daily low in Dallas is 57.1 °F (13.9 °C) and the average daily high is 76.7 °F (24.8 °C). Dallas receives approximately 37.1 inches (942.3 mm) of rain per year.

Cityscape[link]

Dallas skyline from The West Village

Dallas skyline from the Belmont Hotel in Oak Cliff

Dallas skyline from the Trinity River Greenbelt Park

Architecture[link]

Dallas' skyline contains several buildings over 700 feet (210 m) in height. Although some of Dallas' architecture dates from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most of the notable architecture in the city is from the modernist and postmodernist eras. Iconic examples of modernist architecture include Reunion Tower, the JFK Memorial, I. M. Pei's Dallas City Hall and Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. Good examples of postmodernist skyscrapers are in Fountain Place, Bank of America Plaza, Renaissance Tower, JPMorgan Chase Tower, and Comerica Bank Tower. Several smaller structures are fashioned in the Gothic Revival style, such as the Kirby Building, and the neoclassical style, as seen in the Davis and Wilson Buildings. One architectural "hotbed" in the city is a stretch of historic houses along Swiss Avenue, which contains all shades and variants of architecture from Victorian to neoclassical.^[36] The Dallas Downtown Historic District protects a cross-section of Dallas commercial architecture from the 1880s to the 1940s.

Neighborhoods[link]

Central Dallas is anchored by Downtown, the center of the city and the epicenter of urban revival, along with Oak Lawn and Uptown, areas characterized by dense retail, restaurants, and nightlife. Downtown Dallas has a variety of named districts, including the West End Historic District, the Arts District, the Main Street District, Farmers Market District, the City Center business district, the Convention Center District, and the Reunion District. "Hot spots" north of Downtown include Uptown, Victory Park, Oak Lawn, Turtle Creek, Cityplace and West Village.

East Dallas is home to Deep Ellum, a trendy arts area close to Downtown, the homey Lakewood neighborhood, historic Vickery Place and Bryan Place, and the architecturally significant neighborhoods of Swiss Avenue and Munger Place Historic District, which has one of the largest collections of Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Prairie-style homes in the United States. North of the Park Cities is Preston Hollow, home to Texas' wealthiest residents, as well as the most expensive homes in the state. The area is also characterized by a variety of high-powered shopping areas, including Galleria Dallas, NorthPark Center, and Highland Park Village. In the northeast quadrant of the city is Lake Highlands, one of Dallas' most unified middle-class neighborhoods.^[37]

Homes in Munger Place Historic District

Midtown Dallas is currently undergoing construction of new high-rise apartments, restaurants, and retail. The midtown area is generally a new classification of the city, consisting of North Park Mall, SMU, White Rock Lake, The Dallas Arboretum, and new retail/high-rises, most notably along Park Lane and Central Expressway. Midtown is bordered by University Park to the west, Preston Hollow to the North, Lake Highlands/Lakewood to the East, and Uptown/City Place to the South.

Southwest of Downtown lies Oak Cliff, a hilly area that has undergone gentrification in recent years in neighborhoods such as the Bishop Arts District. Oak Cliff originated as a township founded in the mid-1800s and was annexed by the city of Dallas in 1903.^[38] Today, most of the area's northern residents are Hispanic. The ghost town of La Reunion once occupied the northern tip of Oak Cliff. South Oak Cliff is a mixture of Black/African American, Hispanic, and Native American.

South Dallas, a distinct neighborhood southeast of Downtown, lays claim to the Cedars, an eclectic artist hotbed south of downtown and Fair Park, home of the annual State Fair of Texas, occurring in October.

Much of the southern portion of the city is characterized now by high rates of poverty and crime.^[39] To spur growth in the southern sector of the city, University of North Texas System opened a Dallas campus in October 2006 in South Oak Cliff near the intersection of Interstate 20 and Houston School Rd.^[40] Large amounts of undeveloped land remain nearby, due to decades of slow growth south of Downtown. Further east, in the southeast quadrant of the city, is the large neighborhood of Pleasant Grove. Once an independent city, it is a collection of mostly lower-income residential areas stretching all the way to Seagoville in the southeast. Though a city neighborhood, Pleasant Grove is surrounded by undeveloped land on all sides, including swampland separating it from South Dallas that will in the future be part of the Great Trinity Forest,^[41] a subsection of the city's Trinity River Project.

Dallas is further surrounded by many suburbs and includes three enclaves within the city boundaries—Cockrell Hill, Highland Park, and University Park.

Culture[link]

Stone Street Gardens is lined with bistros, pubs and restaurants connecting Main to Elm Streets in Downtown Dallas

Cuisine[link]

Dallas is known for its barbecue, authentic Mexican, and Tex-Mex cuisine. Famous products of the Dallas culinary scene include the frozen margarita and the chain restaurants Chili's and Romano's Macaroni Grill.^[42] Fearing's restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Dallas hotel in Uptown Dallas was named the best hotel restaurant in the US for 2009 by Zagat Survey. The Ritz-Carlton Dallas hotel was also named 2009 best US hotel by Zagat, and 2009 No. 2 hotel in the world by Zagat, trailing only the Four Seasons King George V in Paris, France. A number of nationally ranked steakhouses can be found in the Dallas area, including Bob's Steak & Chop House, currently ranked No. 1 according to the USDA Prime Steakhouses chart.^[43]

Arts[link]

The Winspear Opera House and the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Downtown Dallas Arts District

The Arts District in the northern section of Downtown is home to several arts venues, both existing and proposed. Notable venues in the district include the Dallas Museum of Art, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center home to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Dallas Wind Symphony, The Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, and The Dallas Children's Theater.

Venues that are part of the AT&T Dallas Center for the Performing Arts^[44][45] include the Winspear Opera House home to the Dallas Opera and Texas Ballet Theater, the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre home to the Dallas Theater Center and the Dallas Black Dance Theater, and City Performance Hall.

The Arts District is also home to DISD's Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, a magnet school which was recently expanded.^[46]

City Center District, next to the Arts District is home to the The Dallas Contemporary.

Deep Ellum, immediately east of Downtown, originally became popular during the 1920s and 1930s as the prime jazz and blues hot spot in the South.^[47] Artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, and Bessie Smith played in original Deep Ellum clubs such as The Harlem and The Palace. Today, Deep Ellum is home to hundreds of artists who live in lofts and operate in studios throughout the district alongside bars, pubs, and concert venues.^[48] A major art infusion in the area results from the city's lax stance on graffiti, and a number of public spaces including tunnels, sides of buildings, sidewalks, and streets are covered in murals. One major example, the Good-Latimer tunnel, was torn down in late 2006 to accommodate the construction of a light rail line through the site.^{[citation needed]}

Like Deep Ellum before it, the Cedars neighborhood to the south of Downtown has also seen a growing population of studio artists and an expanding roster of entertainment venues. The area's art scene began to grow in the early 2000s with the opening of Southside on Lamar, an old Sears warehouse converted into lofts, studios, and retail.^[49] Current attractions include Gilley's Dallas and Poor David's Pub.^[50][51] Dallas Mavericks owner and local entrepreneur Mark Cuban purchased land along Lamar Avenue near Cedars Station in September 2005, and locals speculate that he is planning an entertainment complex for the site.^[52]

South of the Trinity River, the flourishing Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff is home to a number of studio artists living in converted warehouses. Walls of buildings along alleyways and streets are painted with murals and the surrounding streets contain many eclectic restaurants and shops.^[53]

Dallas has an Office of Cultural Affairs as a department of the city government. The office is responsible for six cultural centers located throughout the city, funding for local artists and theaters, initiating public art projects, and running the city-owned classical radio station WRR.^[54]

Media[link]

Dallas has numerous local newspapers, magazines, television stations and radio stations that serve the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex as a whole, which is the 5th-largest media market in the United States.^[55]

Dallas has one major daily newspaper, The Dallas Morning News, which was founded in 1885 by A. H. Belo and is A. H. Belo's flagship newspaper. The Dallas Times Herald, started in 1888, was the Morning News' major competitor until Belo purchased the paper on December 8, 1991 and closed the paper down the next day. Other daily newspapers are Al Día, a Spanish-language paper published by Belo, Quick, a free, summary-style version of the Morning News, and a number of ethnic newspapers printed in languages such as Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

Other publications include the Dallas Weekly, the Oak Cliff Tribune and the Elite News, all weekly news publications. The Dallas Morning News also puts out a weekly publication, neighborsgo, which comes out every Friday and focuses on community news. Readers can post stories and contribute content at the Web site, [14]. The Dallas Observer and the North Texas Journal are also alternative weekly newspapers, D Magazine, a monthly magazine about business, life, and entertainment in the Metroplex. Local visitor magazines include "WHERE Magazine" and "Travelhost" – available at hotel desks or in guest rooms. In addition, the Park Cities and suburbs such as Plano also have their own community newspapers. Also, THE magazine covers the contemporary arts scene.

In terms of the larger metro area, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is another significant daily newspaper, covering Fort Worth/Tarrant County and its suburbs. It also publishes a major Spanish-language newspaper for the entire Metroplex known as La Estrella. To the north of Dallas and Fort Worth, the Denton Record-Chronicle primarily covers news for the city of Denton and Denton County.Dallas also has a lot of club such as Escapade 2001,Club Rio,Far West etc.

Area television stations affiliated with the major broadcasting networks include KDFW 4 (Fox), KXAS 5 (NBC), WFAA 8 (ABC) (owned by Belo), KTVT 11 (CBS), KERA 13 (PBS), KUVN 23 (UNI), KDFI 27 (MNTV), KDAF 33 (The CW) and KXTX 39 (TMD). KTXA-21 is an independent station formerly affiliated with the now-defunct UPN network.

63 radio stations operate within range of Dallas.^[56] The City of Dallas operates WRR 101.1 FM, the area's main classical music station, from city offices in Fair Park.^[57] Its original sister station, licensed as WRR-AM in 1921, is the oldest commercially operated radio station in Texas and the second-oldest in the United States, after KDKA (AM) in Pittsburgh.^[58] Because of the city's centrally located geographical position and lack of nearby mountainous terrain, high-power class A medium-wave stations KRLD and WBAP can broadcast as far as southern Canada at night and can be used for emergency messages when broadcasting is down in other major metropolitan areas in the United States.

Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation (HBC), the largest company in the Spanish-language radio station business, is based in Dallas.^[59] In 2003, HBC was acquired by Univision and became Univision Radio Inc., but the radio company remains headquartered in the city.^[60]

Religion[link]

The Catholic Cathedral Santuario de Guadalupe juxtaposed against the JPMorgan Chase Bank Tower in the Downtown Dallas Arts District

Gaston Avenue Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas (postcard, circa 1905-1924)

There is a large Protestant Christian influence in the Dallas community. Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches are prominent in many neighborhoods and anchor two of the city's major private universities (Southern Methodist University and Dallas Baptist University). Dallas is also home to two evangelical seminaries, the Dallas Theological Seminary and Criswell College and many Bible schools including Christ For The Nations Institute.

The Catholic Church is also a significant organization in the Dallas area and operates the University of Dallas, a liberal-arts university in the Dallas suburb of Irving. The Cathedral Santuario de Guadalupe in the Arts District is home to the second-largest Catholic church membership in the United States, and oversees over 70 parishes in the Dallas Diocese. The Society of Jesus operates the Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. Dallas is also home to three Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.^[61] The city of Dallas and Dallas county have more Catholic than Protestant residents, while the converse is usually true for the suburban areas of Dallas.

Dallas' Jewish population of approximately 45,000 is the largest of any city in Texas.^[62] Since the establishment of the city's first Jewish cemetery in 1854 and its first congregation (which would eventually be known as Temple Emanu-El) in 1873, Dallas Jews have been well represented among leaders in commerce, politics, and various professional fields in Dallas and elsewhere. See History of the Jews in Dallas, Texas for more information.

The Cathedral of Hope is a predominantly LGBT congregation located in the Oak Lawn area. The Dallas Cathedral of Hope is said to be the world's largest Christian LGBT church. Located on the campus of the Cathedral of Hope, the Interfaith Peace Chapel was the last project that Priktzer award-winning architect Philip Johnson designed. Johnson is quoted as saying, "this is a building I’ve waited all my life to build. It will be my memorial."

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Dallas, Texas (postcard, circa 1873–1907)

The Dallas Texas Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The city is also home to a sizable LDS community. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has fifteen stakes throughout Dallas and surrounding suburbs.^[63] The Church built the Dallas Texas Temple, the first temple in Texas, in the city in 1984.^[64]

Jehovah's Witnesses also have a large number of members throughout Dallas and surrounding suburbs.

There are several Unitarian Universalist congregations, including First Unitarian Church of Dallas, founded in 1903.^[65]

Furthermore, a large Muslim community exists in the north and northeastern portions of Dallas, as well as in the northern Dallas suburbs. The oldest mosque in Texas is located in Denton, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Downtown Dallas. The oldest mosque in Dallas is Masjid Al-Islam located just south of Downtown Dallas.

Dallas also has a large Buddhist community. Immigrants from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, Tibet, Japan, China, Taiwan, and Sri Lanka have all contributed to the Buddhist population, which is concentrated in the northern suburbs of Garland, Plano and Richardson. Numerous Buddhist temples dot the Metroplex, including The Buddhist Center of Dallas, Lien Hoa Vietnamese Temple of Irving, and Kadampa Meditation Center Texas and Wat Buddhamahamunee of Arlington.

A sizable Sikh community resides in Dallas and its surrounding suburbs. There are at least three Sikh Gurudwaras in this metropolitan area.^[66][67][68]

There are several Hindu temples in DFW area in cities such as Irving and the Indian Community is growing in the DFW Metroplex. There's also a Jain Temple, ISKON Temple, Sai Baba Temple and other temples in DFW.

For the atheist, agnostic, nonbeliever and strictly spiritual individuals, there is "The Winter SolstiCelebration". After 15 years, this celebration has become a minor Dallas cultural tradition for the "spiritual but not religious" people of North Texas. "That gentle rejection of commonly held ideas fills many of those who will take part in the event. They are mostly people who refuse to be pigeonholed by any one religion – but who long for the sense of community that an organized faith supplies."^[69]

Events[link]

The OU/TX Red River Shootout in 2006

The most notable event held in Dallas is the State Fair of Texas, which has been held annually at Fair Park since 1886. The fair is a massive event, bringing in an estimated $350 million to the city's economy annually. The Red River Shootout, which pits the University of Texas at Austin against The University of Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl also brings significant crowds to the city. The city also hosts a series of bowl games including the Ticket City Bowl at the Cotton Bowl, the Cotton Bowl Classic held at Cowboys Stadium, and Armed Forces Bowl held at Gerald J. Ford Stadium owned by Southern Methodist University.

Other festivals in the area include several Cinco de Mayo celebrations hosted by the city's large Mexican American population, and Saint Patrick's Day parade along Lower Greenville Avenue, Juneteenth festivities, the Greek Food Festival of Dallas, the annual Halloween event "The Wake" featuring lots of local art and music, and two annual events on Halloween include; a Halloween parade on Cedar Springs Road and a "Zombie Walk" held in Downtown Dallas in the Arts District. With the opening of Victory Park, WFAA Channel 8 has begun to host an annual New Year's Eve celebration in AT&T Plaza that the television station hopes will reminisce of celebrations in New York's Times Square, and on New Year's Eve 2011 set a new record of 32,000 people in attendance. Also, several Omni hotels in the Dallas area host large events to welcome in the new year including murder mystery parties, rave inspired events, and other events. The city has their own New Year's Day parade, the Comerica Bank New Year's Parade.

Sports[link]

Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders

Dallas is home to the Dallas Mavericks (National Basketball Association) and Dallas Stars (National Hockey League). Both teams play at the American Airlines Center.

In 2011, Dallas became the first city to host the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the NBA Finals, all within the same 12-month period. Both the Texas Rangers and Dallas Mavericks won successive playoff games to reach the championship in their respective sports, whereas the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington was chosen in advance to host the Super Bowl.

Soccer[link]

The Major League Soccer team FC Dallas, formerly the Dallas Burn, used to play in the Cotton Bowl but moved to Pizza Hut Park (now "FC Dallas Stadium") in Frisco upon the stadium's opening in 2005.^[70] The college Cotton Bowl Classic football game was played at the stadium through its 2009 game, but has moved to the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. The Dallas Sidekicks, a former team of the Major Indoor Soccer League, used to play in Reunion Arena, as did the Mavericks and Stars before their move to the American Airlines Center.^[71]

Hockey[link]

Dallas is the home of the Dallas Stars. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Stars have won seven division titles in Dallas, two President's Trophies as the top regular season team in the NHL, the Western Conference championship twice, and in 1998–99, the Stanley Cup. The team plays its home games at the American Airlines Center.

The Allen Americans, founded for the 2009–10 season, play in the Berry Conference of the Central Hockey League. Their home arena is the Allen Event Center located in Allen, Texas, approximately 30 minutes northeast of Dallas. The Texas Tornado, three-time defending champions of the North American Hockey League, plays at the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco.^[72]

Football[link]

Multiple different teams were referred to as the "Dallas Texans". The Dallas Texans (NFL) played the National Football League for one season in 1952. Another version of the Dallas Texans was a charter member of the American Football League IV in 1960, before becoming the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963. Another version, the Dallas Texans competed in the now-defunct Arena Football League from 1990–1993, after which the AFL team was the Dallas Desperados from 2002–2008. In 2010, the Dallas Vigilantes began playing in the American Airlines Center as a part of the restructured Arena Football League.

Nearby Arlington, Texas is the new home to the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. Since joining the league as an expansion team in 1960, the Cowboys have enjoyed substantial success, advancing to eight Super Bowls and winning five; according to profootballreference.com, as of the end of the 2009 season they were the winningest active NFL franchise. Known widely as "America's Team", the Dallas Cowboys are financially the most valuable sports 'franchise' in the world, worth approximately 1.5 billion dollars.^[73] They are also the second most valuable sports organization in the world. The Cowboys are only out-valued by Manchester United, who are valued at 1.8 billion dollars.^[74] In 2009, the Cowboys relocated to their new 80,000-seat stadium in Arlington, which was the site of Super Bowl XLV.^[75]

Basketball[link]

Dirk Nowitzki playing with the Dallas Mavericks

The city is home to the Dallas Mavericks. Their original arena was the now demolished Reunion Arena, but now they play at the American Airlines Center. They won their first championship in 2011 led by their German star-player Dirk Nowitzki.

Baseball[link]

Also in Arlington is Rangers Ballpark,^[76] home of the 2010 and 2011 American League Champion^[77] Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball.^[78]

Horse racing[link]

About halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, horse-racing takes place at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie.

Rugby League[link]

The Dallas Dragons, formed in 2010 are part of the AMNRL's Western Expansion.

Rugby Union[link]

Rugby union is a developing sport in Dallas as well as the whole of Texas. The multiple clubs, ranging from men's and women's clubs to collegiate and high school, are part of the Texas Rugby Football Union.^[79] Currently Dallas is one of only 16 cities in the United States included in the Rugby Super League^[80] represented by Dallas Harlequins.^[81]

Cricket[link]

Cricket is another sport that is popular among diaspora from South Asian countries. Local universities such as SMU, University of Texas at Arlington and University of Texas at Dallas have their own cricket clubs that are affiliated with USA Cricket.

Other sports[link]

Other teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth area include the Fort Worth Cats and the Grand Prairie AirHogs, minor league baseball teams. The Dallas Diamonds, the two-time national champions of the Women's Professional Football League, play in North Richland Hills.^[82][83] McKinney is home to the Dallas Revolution, an Independent Women's Football League team.^[84] The Dallas Bluestorm was a charter of the United National Gridiron League, a proposed minor football league that had planned to begin play in 2010.

Dallas has no major college sports program within its political boundaries, although it has one such program within its city limits—the Mustangs of Southern Methodist University are located in the enclave of University Park. Neighboring cities Fort Worth, Arlington, and Denton are home to the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, University of Texas at Arlington Mavericks, and University of North Texas Mean Green respectively.

Major league sports teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth area:

As reported by Olympic news outlet Around the Rings, Dallas is looking at a 2020 summer olympics bid. Those in favor of Dallas say that it should be chosen because no major stadiums would have to be built for the games.

Recreation[link]

The City of Dallas maintains and operates 406 parks on 21,000 acres (85 km²) of parkland. Its flagship park is the 260-acre (1.05 km²) Fair Park, which hosted the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936. The city is also home to Texas' first and largest zoo, the 95 acres (0.38 km²) Dallas Zoo, which opened at its current location in 1888.^[85]

The city's parks contain 17 separate lakes, including White Rock and Bachman lakes, spanning a total of 4,400 acres (17.81 km²). In addition, Dallas is traversed by 61.6 miles (99.1 km) of biking and jogging trails, including the Katy Trail, and is home to 47 community and neighborhood recreation centers, 276 sports fields, 60 swimming pools, 232 playgrounds, 173 basketball courts, 112 volleyball courts, 126 play slabs, 258 neighborhood tennis courts, 258 picnic areas, six 18-hole golf courses, two driving ranges, and 477 athletic fields.^[86]

As part of the ongoing Trinity River Project, the Great Trinity Forest, at 6,000 acres (24 km²), is the largest urban hardwood forest in the United States and is part of the largest urban park in the United States.^[41] The Trinity River Audubon Center is a new addition to the park. Opened in 2008, it serves as a gateway to many trails and other nature viewing activities in the area. The Trinity River Audubon Center is the first LEED-certified building constructed by the City of Dallas Parks and Recreation Department.

Dallas also hosts three of the 21 preserves of the extensive (3,200-acre/13 km²) Dallas County Preserve System. Both the Joppa Preserve, the McCommas Bluff Preserve the Cedar Ridge Preserve are all within the Dallas city limits. The Cedar Ridge Preserve was formerly known as the Dallas Nature Center, but management was turned over to Audubon Dallas group, which now manages the 633-acre (2.56 km²) natural habitat park on behalf of the City of Dallas and Dallas County. The preserve sits at an elevation of 755 feet (230 m) above sea level, and contains a variety of outdoor activities, including 10 miles (16 km) of hiking trails and picnic areas.

Just southwest of Dallas is Cedar Hill State Park, maintained by the Texas Parks and Wildlife state agency. A 1,826-acre (7.39 km²) urban nature preserve, the park is located on the 7,500-acre (30 km²) Joe Pool Reservoir, and offers activities such as mountain biking, birding, camping and fishing; swimming is allowed at the swimming beach only.^[87]

To the west of Dallas in Arlington is Six Flags Over Texas, the original franchise in the Six Flags theme park chain. Hurricane Harbor, a large water park owned by Six Flags, is also in Arlington.

Economy[link]

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Whitacre Tower, the World Headquarters of AT&T in Downtown Dallas

The World Headquarters of Texas Instruments in North Dallas

Comerica Bank Tower, Comerica Bank's national headquarters in Downtown Dallas

The national headquarters of Southwest Airlines at Dallas Love Field Airport just north of Downtown Dallas

In its beginnings, Dallas relied on farming, neighboring Fort Worth's Stockyards, and its prime location on Native American trade routes to sustain itself. Dallas' key to growth came in 1873 with the building of multiple rail lines through the city. As Dallas grew and technology developed, cotton became its boon and by 1900 Dallas was the largest inland cotton market in the world, becoming a leader in cotton gin machinery manufacturing. By the early 1900s Dallas was a hub for economic activity all over the southwestern United States and was selected in 1914 as the seat of the Eleventh Federal Reserve District. By 1925 Texas churned out more than ⅓ of the nation's cotton crop, with 31% of Texas cotton produced within a 100-mile (160 km) radius of Dallas. In the 1930s petroleum was discovered east of Dallas near Kilgore, Texas. Dallas' proximity to the discovery put it immediately at the center of the nation's petroleum market. Petroleum discoveries in the Permian Basin, the Panhandle, the Gulf Coast, and Oklahoma in the following years further solidified Dallas' position as the hub of the market.^[89]

The end of World War II left Dallas seeded with a nexus of communications, engineering, and production talent by companies such as Collins Radio Corporation. Decades later, the telecommunications and information revolutions still drive a large portion of the local economy. The city is sometimes referred to as the heart of "Silicon Prairie" because of a high concentration of telecommunications companies in the region, the epicenter of which lies along the Telecom Corridor located in Richardson, a northern suburb of Dallas. The Corridor is home to more than 5,700 companies^[90] including Texas Instruments (headquartered in Dallas), Nortel Networks, Alcatel Lucent, AT&T, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Nokia, Rockwell Collins, Cisco Systems, Sprint, Verizon Communications, and until recently^[when?] CompUSA (which is now headquartered in Miami,FL).

In the 1980s Dallas was a real estate hotbed, with the increasing metropolitan population bringing with it a demand for new housing and office space. Several of Downtown Dallas' largest buildings are the fruit of this boom, but over-speculation and the savings and loan crisis prevented any further additions to Dallas' skyline. Between the late 1980s and the early 2000s, central Dallas went through a slow period of growth and has only recently recovered. Since 2000, the real estate market in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has been relatively resilient. However, Dallas is among the largest cities in the U.S. where rent declined significantly. Whereas the national decline in rent is approximately 4%, Dallas rent declined an average of 8% in early 2010.^[91]

Texas Instruments, a major manufacturer, employs 10,400 people at its corporate headquarters and chip plants in Dallas. Defense and aircraft manufacturing dominates the economy of nearby Fort Worth.^[92][93]

The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has one of the largest concentrations of corporate headquarters for publicly traded companies in the United States. The city of Dallas has 12 Fortune 500 companies,^[12] and the DFW region as a whole has 20.^[94] In 2007–08, Comerica Bank and AT&T located their headquarters in Dallas. Irving is home to four Fortune 500 companies of its own, including ExxonMobil, the most profitable company in the world and the second largest by revenue for 2008,^[95] Kimberly-Clark, Fluor (engineering), and Commercial Metals.^[96] Additional companies headquartered in the Metroplex include Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, RadioShack, Neiman Marcus, 7-Eleven, Brinker International, AMS Pictures, id Software, ENSCO Offshore Drilling, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Chuck E. Cheese's, Zales and Fossil. Corporate headquarters in the northern suburb of Plano include HP Enterprise Services, Frito Lay, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and JCPenney. Many of these companies—and others throughout the DFW metroplex—comprise the Dallas Regional Chamber.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest breast cancer organization^[97] was founded and is headquartered in Dallas.

In addition to its large number of businesses, Dallas has more shopping centers per capita than any other city in the United States and is also home to the second shopping center ever built in the United States, Highland Park Village, which opened in 1931.^[98] Dallas is home of the two other major malls in North Texas, the Dallas Galleria and NorthPark Center, which is the 2nd largest mall in Texas. Both malls feature high-end stores and are major tourist draws for the region.^{[citation needed]}

According to Forbes Magazine's annual list of "The Richest People in America" published September 21, 2011, the city itself is now home to 17 billionaires, up from 14 in 2009. In 2009 (with 14 billionaires) the city placed 6th worldwide among cities with the most billionaires.^[99][100] The ranking does not even take into account the 8 billionaires who live in the neighboring city of Fort Worth.

Dallas is currently the third most popular destination for business travel in the United States, and the Dallas Convention Center is one of the largest and busiest convention centers in the country, at over 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m²), and the world's single-largest column-free exhibit hall.^[101]

Law and government[link]

Dallas City Hall

The city uses a council-manager government, with Mike Rawlings serving as Mayor, Mary Suhm serving as city manager, and 14 council members serving as representatives to the 14 council districts in the city.^{[102][103][104]} This organizational structure was recently contested by some in favor of a strong-mayor city charter, only to be rejected by Dallas voters.

In the 2006–2007 fiscal year, the city's total budget (the sum of operating and capital budgets) was $2,344,314,114.^[105] The city has seen a steady increase in its budget throughout its history due to sustained growth: the budget was $1,717,449,783 in 2002–2003,^[106] $1,912,845,956 in 2003–2004,^[106] $2,049,685,734 in 2004–2005,^[107] and $2,218,345,070 in 2005–2006.^[107]

National and state legislators representing Dallas: