Dallas

Dallas skyline with Downtown Dallas in the background and Victory Park and Uptown Dallas in the foreground

Dallas's skyline has twenty buildings classified as skyscrapers, over 490 feet (150 m) in height.[44] Despite its tallest building not reaching 980 feet (300 m), Dallas does have a signature building in Bank of America Plaza which is lit up in neon but falls outside the top two hundred tallest buildings in the world. Although some of Dallas's 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 the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.[45] Good examples of postmodernist skyscrapers are Fountain Place, Bank of America Plaza, Renaissance Tower, JPMorgan Chase Tower, and Comerica Bank Tower. Downtown Dallas also has residential offerings in downtown, some of which are signature skyline buildings.

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 has all shades and variants of architecture from Victorian to neoclassical.[46] The Dallas Downtown Historic District protects a cross-section of Dallas commercial architecture from the 1880s to the 1940s.

The city of Dallas is home to many areas, neighborhoods, and communities. Dallas can be divided into several geographical areas which include larger geographical sections of territory including many subdivisions or neighborhoods, forming macroneighborhoods.

Central Dallas is anchored by Downtown, the center of the city, along with Oak Lawn and Uptown, areas characterized by dense retail, restaurants, and nightlife.[47] 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. This area includes Uptown, Victory Park, Harwood, Oak Lawn, Dallas Design District, Trinity Groves, Turtle Creek, Cityplace, Knox/Henderson, Greenville, and West Village.

East Dallas is the location of Deep Ellum, an arts area close to Downtown, the Lakewood neighborhood (and adjacent areas, including Lakewood Heights, Wilshire Heights, Lower Greenville, Junius Heights, and Hollywood Heights/Santa Monica), Vickery Place and Bryan Place, and the architecturally significant neighborhoods of Swiss Avenue and Munger Place. Its historic district has one of the largest collections of Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired prairie-style homes in the United States. In the northeast quadrant of the city is Lake Highlands, one of Dallas's most unified middle-class neighborhoods.[48]

South Dallas is the location of Cedars, and Fair Park, where the annual State Fair of Texas is held from late September through mid-October. Also located here is Exposition Park, Dallas, noted for having artists, art galleries, and bars along tree-lined Exposition Avenue.[49] 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 was a township founded in the mid-1800s and annexed in 1903 by Dallas.[50] Today, most of the area's northern residents are Hispanic and Latin American. The ghost town of La Reunion once occupied the north tip of Oak Cliff. South Oak Cliff's population is a mix of African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans.

South Side Dallas is a popular location for nightly entertainment at the NYLO rooftop patio and lounge,[51] The Cedars Social.[52] The neighborhood has undergone extensive development and community integration. What was once an area characterized by high rates of poverty and crime is now one of the city's most attractive social and living destinations.[53][54]

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 to Seagoville in the southeast. Though a city neighborhood, Pleasant Grove is surrounded by undeveloped land on all sides. Swampland and wetlands separating it from South Dallas are part of the Great Trinity Forest,[55] a subsection of the city's Trinity River Project, newly appreciated for habitat and flood control.

West End Historic District

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden

Dallas on July 1, 2022, with north oriented down and to the left. Taken during Expedition 67 of the International Space Station

Dallas and its surrounding area are mostly flat. The city lies at elevations ranging from 450 to 550 feet (137 to 168 m) above sea level. The western edge of the Austin Chalk Formation, a limestone escarpment (also known as the "White Rock Escarpment"), rises 230 feet (70 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, 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. Interstate 35E parallels its path through Dallas 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.[56]

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, 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,[57] which was begun in the early 2000s.

The project area reaches 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 encompasses approximately 10,000 acres (40 km²), making it one of the largest and diverse urban parks in the world.[58]

White Rock Lake and Joe Pool Lake are reservoirs that comprise Dallas's other significant water features. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, White Rock Lake 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, on the lake's eastern shore. White Rock Creek feeds into White Rock Lake and then exits into 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 in an extension of Dallas surrounded by the suburbs of Garland, Rowlett, Rockwall, and Sunnyvale.[59] 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.[60] 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 the lake's neighboring cities oppose.[61]

Dallas has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa) characteristic of the Southern Plains of the United States. It also has both continental and tropical characteristics, characterized by a relatively wide annual temperature range for the latitude. Located at the lower end of Tornado Alley, it is prone to extreme weather, tornadoes, and hailstorms.

Summers in Dallas are very hot with high humidity, although extended periods of dry weather often occur. July and August are typically the hottest months, with an average high of 96.0 °F (36 °C) and an average low of 76.7 °F (25 °C). Heat indices regularly surpass 105 °F (41 °C) due to elevated humidity during the summer months, making the summer heat almost unbearable. The all-time record high is 113 °F (45 °C), set on June 26 and 27, 1980 during the Heat Wave of 1980 at nearby Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.[63][64]

Winters in Dallas are usually chilly to mild, with occasional cold spells. The average date of first frost is November 12, and the average date of last frost is March 12.[65] January is typically the coldest month, with an average daytime high of 56.8 °F (14 °C) and an average nighttime low of 37.3 °F (3 °C). The normal daily average temperature in January is 47.0 °F (8 °C) but sharp swings in temperature can occur, as strong cold fronts known as "Blue Northers" pass through the Dallas region, forcing temperatures below the 40 °F (4 °C) mark for several days at a time and often between days with high temperatures above 80 °F (27 °C). Snow accumulation is seen in the city in about 70% of winter seasons, and snowfall generally occurs 1–2 days out of the year for a seasonal average of 1.5 inches (4 cm). Some areas in the region, however, receive more than that, while other areas receive negligible snowfall or none at all.[66] The all-time record low temperature within the city is −3 °F (−19 °C), set on January 18, 1930. The temperature at nearby Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport reached −2 °F (−19 °C) on February 16, 2021, during Winter Storm Uri.

Spring and autumn are transitional seasons with moderate and pleasant weather. Vibrant wildflowers (such as the bluebonnet, Indian paintbrush and other flora) bloom in spring and are planted around the highways throughout Texas.[67] Springtime weather can be quite volatile, but temperatures themselves are mild. Late spring to early summer also tends to be the most humid, with humidity levels frequently exceeding 75%. The weather in Dallas is also generally pleasant from late September to early December and on many winter days. Autumn often brings more storms and tornado threats, but they are usually fewer and less severe than in spring.

Each spring, cold fronts moving south from the North 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 most significant natural threat to the city, as it is near the heart of Tornado Alley.

A few 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. Temperatures reaching 70 °F (21 °C) on average occur on at least four days each winter month. Dallas averages 26 annual nights at or below freezing,[63] with the winter of 1999–2000 holding the record for 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) in most (67%) years.[63]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture places Dallas in Plant Hardiness Zone 8a.[68][69] However, mild winter temperatures in the past 15 to 20 years had encouraged the horticulture of more cold-sensitive plants such as Washingtonia filifera and Washingtonia robusta palms, nearly all of which died off during Winter Storm Uri. According to the American Lung Association, Dallas has the 12th highest air pollution among U.S. cities, ranking it behind Los Angeles and Houston.[70] 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 cement plants in neighboring Ellis County.[71]

The average daily low in Dallas is 57.4 °F (14 °C), and the average daily high is 76.9 °F (25 °C). Dallas receives approximately 39.1 inches (993 mm) of rain per year. The record snowfall for Dallas was 11.2 inches (28 cm) on February 11, 2010.

Map of racial distribution in Dallas, 2010 U.S. census. Each dot is 25 people: ⬤ White ⬤ Black ⬤ Asian ⬤ Hispanic ⬤ Other

Dallas's population was historically predominantly White (non-Hispanic whites made up 82.8% of the population in 1930),[91] but its population has diversified due to immigration and white flight over the 20th century. Today the non-Hispanic white population has declined to less than one-third of the city's population.[92] According to the 2010 U.S. census, 50.7% of the population was White (28.8% non-Hispanic white), 24.8% was Black or African American, 0.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.9% Asian, and 2.6% from two or more races; 42.4% of the total population was of Hispanic or Latino American origin (they may be of any race).[93] At the United States Census Bureau's 2019 estimates, 29.1% were non-Hispanic white, 24.3% Black and African American, 0.3% American Indian or Alaska Native, 3.7% Asian, and 1.4% from two or more races.[94] Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders made up a total of 312 residents according to 2019's census estimates, down from 606 in 2017.[95] Hispanic or Latino Americans of any race made up 41.2% of the estimated population in 2019. Among the Hispanic or Latino American population in 2019, 34.6% of Dallas was Mexican, 0.4% Puerto Rican, 0.2% Cuban and 6.0% other Hispanic or Latino American. In 2017's American Community Survey estimates among the demographic 35.5% were Mexican, 0.6% Puerto Rican, 0.4% Cuban, and 5.4% other Hispanic or Latino.[96] By 2020 Hispanic or Latino Americans of any race continued to constitute the largest ethnic group in the city proper, reflecting nationwide demographic trends.[97][98][99]

The Dallas area is a major destination for Mexican Americans and other Hispanic and Latino American immigrants. The southwestern portion of the city, particularly Oak Cliff is chiefly inhabited by Hispanic and Latino American residents.[100][101] The southeastern portion of the city Pleasant Grove is chiefly inhabited by African American and Hispanic or Latino American residents, while the southern portion of the city is predominantly black.[102][103] The west and east sides of the city are predominantly Hispanic or Latino American; Garland also has a large Spanish-speaking population. North Dallas has many enclaves of predominantly white, black and especially Hispanic or Latino American residents.

The Dallas area is also a major destination for Black and African Americans. Between 2000 and 2010, the Dallas area gained 223,000 new Black and African American residents only behind the Atlanta metropolitan area. The notable influx of African Americans is partly due to the New Great Migration.[104] There is a significant number of people from the Horn of Africa, immigrants from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.[105]

The Dallas–Fort-Worth metroplex had an estimated 70,000 Russian-speakers (as of November 6, 2012) mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Bloc.[106] Included in this population are Russians, Russian Jews, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Moldavians, Uzbek, Kirghiz, and others. The Russian-speaking population of Dallas has continued to grow in the sector of "American husbands-Russian wives". Russian DFW has its own newspaper, The Dallas Telegraph.[107][108]

In addition, Dallas and its suburbs are home to a large number of Asian Americans including those of Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Japanese, and other heritage.[109][110] Among large-sized cities in the United States, Plano, the northern suburb of Dallas, has the 6th largest Chinese American population as of 2016. The Plano-Richardson area in particular had an estimated 30,000 Iranian Americans in 2012.[111][112] With so many immigrant groups, there are often multilingual signs in the linguistic landscape. According to U.S. Census Bureau data released in December 2013, 23 percent of Dallas County residents were foreign-born, while 16 percent of Tarrant County residents were foreign-born.[113] The 2018 census estimates determined that the city of Dallas's foreign-born population consisted of 25.4% naturalized citizens and 74.6% non-citizens.[114]

Oak Lawn, nicknamed the "Gayborhood" of Dallas

Recognized for having one of the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations in the nation, Dallas and the Metroplex are widely noted for being home to a vibrant and diverse LGBT community.[115][116] Throughout the year there are many well-established LGBT events held in the area, most notably the annual Alan Ross Texas Freedom (Pride) Parade and Festival in June which draws approximately 50,000.[117][118] For decades, the Oak Lawn and Bishop Arts districts have been known as the epicenters of LGBT culture in Dallas.[119]

From top, left to right: Cathedral Santuario de Guadalupe, St. Matthew's Cathedral, First Baptist Church of Dallas, Saint Seraphim Cathedral

Christianity is the most prevalently practiced religion in Dallas and the wider metropolitan area according to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center (78%),[121][122] and the Public Religion Research Institute's 2020 study (77%).[123] There is a large Protestant Christian influence in the Dallas community, though 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 and the city of Fort Worth.

Dallas has been called the "Prison Ministry Capital of the World" by the prison ministry community.[124] It is a home for the International Network of Prison Ministries, the Coalition of Prison Evangelists, Bill Glass Champions for Life, Chaplain Ray's International Prison Ministry, and 60 other prison ministries.[125]

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. Many Bible schools including Christ For The Nations Institute are also headquartered in the city. The Christian creationist apologetics group Institute for Creation Research is headquartered in Dallas. According to the Pew Research Center, Evangelical Protestantism constituted the largest form of Protestantism in the area as of 2014.[126] The largest single Evangelical Protestant group were Baptists. The largest Baptist denomination was the Southern Baptist Convention, followed by the historically black National Baptist Convention USA.[126] African-initiated Protestant churches including Ethiopian Evangelical churches can be found throughout the metropolitan area.[127][128]

The Catholic Church is also a significant religious 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 la Virgen de Guadalupe in the Arts District is home to the second-largest Catholic church membership in the United States and overseas,[129] consisting over 70 parishes in the Dallas Diocese. The Society of Jesus operates the Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. Dallas is also home to numerous Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches including Saint Seraphim Cathedral, see of the Orthodox Church in America's Southern Diocese.[130] The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (Ecumenical Patriarchate) has one parish in the city of Dallas.[131]

The city is home to a sizable Latter Day Saint community. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has twenty-three stakes throughout Dallas and surrounding suburbs.[132] The organization built the Dallas Texas Temple, the first temple in Texas, in the city in 1984.[133] Jehovah's Witnesses also have a large number of members throughout the Dallas metropolitan division. In addition, there are several Unitarian Universalist congregations, including First Unitarian Church of Dallas, founded in 1899.[134] A large community of the United Church of Christ exists in the city. The most prominent UCC-affiliated church is the Cathedral of Hope, a predominantly LGBT-affirming church.[135]

Dallas's Jewish population of 50,000-75,000 is the largest of any city in Texas.[136] 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, Dallasite Jews have been well represented among leaders in commerce, politics, and various professional fields in Dallas and elsewhere.[137][138] Furthermore, a large Muslim community exists in the north and northeastern portions of Dallas, as well as in the northern Dallas suburbs.[139] The oldest mosque in Dallas is Masjid Al-Islam just south of Downtown.[140][141]

Dallas has a large Buddhist community. Immigrants from East Asia, Southeast Asia, Nepal, 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 large and growing Hindu Community lives in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Most live in Collin County and the northern portions of Dallas County. Over 28 Hindu Temples exist in the area. Some notable ones include the DFW Hindu Temple, the North Texas Hindu Mandir, Radha Krishna Temple, Dallas and Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple.[142] There are also at least three Sikh Gurudwaras in this metropolitan area.[143][144][145] For irreligious people, the Winter Solstice Celebration is held in the Metroplex although some of its participants are also neo-pagans and New Agers.[146]

According to the FBI, a city to city comparison of crime rates can be misleading, because recording practices vary from city to city, citizens report different percentages of crimes from one city to the next, and the actual number of people physically present in a city is unknown.[147] With that in mind, Dallas's violent crime rate (12.06 per 1,000 people) is lower than St Louis (24.81), Detroit (24.22), Baltimore (16.96), Philadelphia (15.62), Cleveland (15.47), Miami (15.09), Washington, D.C. (14.48), Kansas City (14.44) and Boston (13.39). However, Houston (11.69), Los Angeles (7.87), and New York City (6.38) have lower violent crime rates than Dallas.[148]

The Arts District in the northern section of Downtown is home to several arts venues and is the largest contiguous arts district in the United States.[180] 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 Nasher Sculpture Center; and the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art.

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science, also in Downtown Dallas, is a natural history and science museum. Designed by 2005 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Thom Mayne and his firm Morphosis Architects, the 180,000-square-foot (17,000 m²) facility has six floors and stands about 14 stories high.

Venues that are part of the AT&T Dallas Center for the Performing Arts include Moody Performance Hall, home to the Dallas Chamber Symphony; the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, home to the Dallas Theater Center and the Dallas Black Dance Theater; and the Winspear Opera House, home to the Dallas Opera and Texas Ballet Theater.[181][182]

Not far north of the area is the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University. In 2009, it joined up with Madrid's Prado Museum for a three-year partnership. The Prado focuses on Spanish visual art and has a collection of Spanish art in North America, with works by de Juanes, El Greco, Fortuny, Goya, Murillo, Picasso, Pkensa, Ribera, Rico, Velasquez, Zurbaran, and other Spaniards. These works, as well as non-Spanish highlights like sculptures by Rodin and Moore, have been so successful of a collaboration that the Prado and Meadows have agreed upon an extension of the partnership.[183]

The Institute for Creation Research operates the ICR Discovery Center for Science & Earth History, a creationism museum, in Dallas.[184] The former Texas School Book Depository, from which, according to the Warren Commission Report, Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President John F. Kennedy in 1963, has served since the 1980s as a county government office building, except for its sixth and seventh floors, which house the Sixth Floor Museum.

The American Museum of the Miniature Arts is at the Hall of State in Fair Park. The Arts District is also home to DISD's Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, a magnet school that was recently expanded.[185] City Center District, next to the Arts District, is home to 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.[186] Artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Huddie "Lead Belly" 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.[187]

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.[188]

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 Roebuck and Company warehouse converted into lofts, studios, and retail.[189]

Current attractions include Gilley's Dallas and Poor David's Pub.[190][191] Dallas Mavericks owner and local entrepreneur Mark Cuban purchased land along Lamar Street near Cedars Station in September 2005, and locals speculate he is planning an entertainment complex for the site.[192] South of the Trinity River, the 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.[193]

Dallas has an Office of Cultural Affairs as a department of the city government. The office is responsible for six cultural centers throughout the city, funding for local artists and theaters, initiating public art projects, and running the city-owned classical radio station WRR.[194] The Los Angeles-class submarine USS Dallas was planned to become a museum ship near the Trinity River after her decommissioning in September 2014, but this has since been delayed.[195] It will be taken apart into massive sections in Houston and be transported by trucks to the museum site and will be put back together.

The city is served by the Dallas Public Library system. The system was created by the Dallas Federation of Women's Clubs with efforts spearheaded by then president May Dickson Exall. Her fundraising efforts led to a grant from philanthropist and steel baron Andrew Carnegie, which allowed the library system to build its first branch in 1901.[196]

Today, the library operates 30 branch locations throughout the city, including the 8-story J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in the Government District of Downtown.[197]

Dallas is known for its barbecue, authentic Mexican, and Tex-Mex cuisine. Famous products of the Dallas culinary scene include the Frozen margarita machine by restaurateur Mariano Martinez (entrepreneur) in 1971.[198]

The State Fair of Texas has been held annually at Fair Park since 1886, and generates an estimated $50 million to the city's economy annually.[199] The Red River Shootout,[200] a football game that 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 the State Fair Classic and Heart of Dallas Bowl at the Cotton Bowl.

Other festivals include several Cinco de Mayo celebrations hosted by the city's large Mexican American population and a Saint Patrick's Day parade along Lower Greenville Avenue, Juneteenth festivities, Taste of Dallas, the Deep Ellum Arts Festival, the Greek Food Festival of Dallas, the annual Halloween event "The Wake", and two annual events on Halloween, including 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 began hosting an annual New Year's Eve celebration in AT&T Plaza that the television station hoped would reminisce of celebrations in New York's Times Square; on New Year's Eve 2011 set a new record of 32,000 people in attendance.[201]

After the discontinuance of the "Big D NYE" festivities a few years later, a new end-of-year event was started downtown, with a big fireworks show put on at Reunion Tower, which has since aired on KXAS and other TV stations around the state and region. 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 Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) play in nearby Arlington. Since joining the league as an expansion team in 1960, the Cowboys have enjoyed substantial success, advancing to eight Super Bowls and winning five. The Cowboys are financially the most valuable sports franchise in the world, worth approximately $4 billion.[202] In 2009, the Cowboys relocated to their new 80,000-seat stadium in Arlington, which was the site of Super Bowl XLV.[203] The Cowboys are currently part of the East Division of the National Football Conference (NFC).

The Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB) play at Globe Life Field in Arlington.[204][205] The team won the American League pennant in 2010 and 2011. The franchise relocated from Washington D.C. in 1972. They play in the West Division of the American League.

The Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) play at the American Airlines Center. They joined the league as an expansion team in 1980. They won their first National Basketball Association championship in 2011 led by Dirk Nowitzki.[206] They play in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference.

The Dallas Stars are members of the National Hockey League (NHL). They moved to Texas in 1993 as a relocation from the former team, The Minnesota North Stars. The Stars have won eight division titles in Dallas, two President's Trophies as the top regular season team in the NHL, the Western Conference championship three times, and in 1998–99, the Stanley Cup. The team plays at the American Airlines Center. They play in the Central Division of the Western Conference.

FC Dallas of Major League Soccer (MLS) play in Frisco at Toyota Stadium (formerly FC Dallas Stadium and Pizza Hut Park), a stadium that opened in 2005.[207] They currently play in MLS's Western Conference. The team was originally called the Dallas Burn and used to play in the Cotton Bowl. Although FC Dallas has not yet won a MLS Cup, they won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 1997 and 2016 and the Supporters' Shield in 2016. Previously, the Dallas Tornado played in the North American Soccer League from 1968 to 1981.

The Dallas Wings play in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). They came to The Metroplex in 2016 after relocating from Tulsa. All home games are played at the College Park Center in Arlington.

The Allen Americans are a professional ice hockey team headquartered at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, which currently plays in the ECHL. They are the minor league affiliate of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. The team was founded in 2009 in the Central Hockey League(CHL). They have won 4 straight championships, 2 in the CHL (2012–13, 2013–14) and 2 in the ECHL(2014–15, 2015–16).

The Dallas Renegades are a professional football team in the relaunched XFL that plays their home games at Globe Life Park, the former home of the Texas Rangers.[208]

The Dallas Sidekicks (2012) are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Allen, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. They play their home games in the Credit Union of Texas Event Center. The team is named after the original Dallas Sidekicks that operated from 1984 to 2004. The MLS-affiliated North Texas SC team is a member of MLS Next Pro and plays in Frisco at Toyota Stadium; it is the reserve team of FC Dallas. The Dallas Mavericks own a NBA G League team, the Texas Legends.

Rugby is a developing sport in Dallas and Texas in general. The multiple clubs, ranging from men's and women's clubs to collegiate and high school, are part of the Texas Rugby Football Union.[209] Dallas was one of only 16 cities in the United States included in the Rugby Super League,[210] represented by Dallas Harlequins.[211] In 2020, Major League Rugby announced the Dallas Jackals as a new franchise.[212] Australian rules football is also growing in Dallas. The Dallas Magpies, founded in 1998, compete in the United States Australian Football League.

The only Division I sports program within the Dallas political boundary is the Dallas Baptist University Patriots baseball team.[213][214] Although outside the city limits, the Mustangs of Southern Methodist University are in the enclave of University Park. Neighboring cities Fort Worth, Arlington, and Denton are home to the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, UT Arlington Mavericks, and University of North Texas Mean Green respectively. The Dallas area hosted the Final Four of the 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament at AT&T Stadium. The college Cotton Bowl Classic football game was played at the Cotton Bowl through its 2009 game, but has moved to AT&T Stadium.

The Red River Showdown is an American college football rivalry game played annually at the Cotton Bowl Stadium during the second weekend of the State Fair of Texas in October. The game is played by the Oklahoma Sooners football team of the University of Oklahoma and the Texas Longhorns football team of the University of Texas at Austin. The 10,000-capacity Forester Stadium, which is used mainly for football and soccer, is also located in Dallas.[215][216]

Dallas's flagship park is Fair Park. Built in 1936 for the Texas Centennial Exposition world's fair, Fair Park is the world's largest collection of Art Deco exhibit buildings, art, and sculptures; Fair Park is also home to the State Fair of Texas, the largest state fair in the United States. In November 2019, consultants presented to the public a master plan to revitalize the area.[220]

Named after Klyde Warren, the young son of billionaire Kelcy Warren, Klyde Warren Park was built above Woodall Rodgers Freeway and connects Uptown and Downtown, specifically the Arts District.

Klyde Warren Park is home to countless amenities, including an amphitheater, jogging trails, a children's park, My Best Friend's Park (dog park), a putting green, croquet, ping pong, chess, an outdoor library, and two restaurants: Savor and Relish. Food trucks give hungry people another option of dining and are lined along the park's Downtown side. There are also weekly planned events, including yoga, Zumba, skyline tours, Tai Chi, and meditation.[221] Klyde Warren Park is home to a free trolley stop on Olive St., which riders can connect to Downtown, McKinney Avenue, and West Village.

Built in 1913, Turtle Creek Parkway park is a 23.7-acre (9.6 ha) linear park in between Turtle Creek and Turtle Creek Boulevard in the aptly named Turtle Creek neighborhood.[222] Archaeological surveys discovered dart points and flint chips dating 3,000 years to 1,000 BCE. This site was later discovered to be home to Native Americans who cherished the trees and natural spring water. The park is across Turtle Creek from Kalita Humphreys Theater, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Opened on July 4, 1906, Lake Cliff Park was called "the Southwest's Greatest Playground". The park was home to an amusement park, a large pool, waterslides, the world's largest skating rink, and three theaters, the largest being the 2,500-seat Casino Theater. After the streetcar bridge that brought most of the park visitors collapsed, Lake Cliff Park was sold. The Casino Theater moved and the pool was demolished after a polio scare in 1959. The pool was Dallas's first municipal pool.[223]

In 1935, Dallas purchased 36 acres (15 ha) from John Cole's estate to develop Reverchon Park.[224] Reverchon Park was named after botanist Julien Reverchon, who left France to live in the La Reunion colony, which was founded in the mid-1800s[225] and was situated in present-day West Dallas. Reverchon Park was planned to be the crown jewel of the Dallas park system and was even referred to as the "Central Park" of Dallas. Improvements were made throughout the years, including the Iris Bowl, picnic settings, a baseball diamond, and tennis courts. The Iris Bowl celebrated many Greek pageants, dances, and other performances. The Gill Well was installed for nearby residents and drew people all across Texas who wanted to experience the water's healing powers.[226] The baseball diamond was host to a 1953 exhibition game for the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians.[227]

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.[55] 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 built by the City of Dallas Parks and Recreation Department.

Named after its former railroad name, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (or "MKT" Railroad), the 3.5-mile (5.6 km) stretch of railroad was purchased by the city of Dallas and transformed into the city's premier trail. Stretching from Victory Park, the 30-acre (12 ha) Katy Trail passes through the Turtle Creek and Knox Park neighborhoods and runs along the east side of Highland Park. The trail ends at Central Expressway, but extensions are underway to extend the trail to the White Rock Lake Trail in Lakewood.[223] In 2015, the Katy Trail was awarded "Best Public Place" from the Urban Land Institute.[228]

Dallas hosts three of the twenty-one preserves of the extensive 3,200 acres (13 km²) Dallas County Preserve System. The Joppa Preserve, the McCommas Bluff Preserve, and the Cedar Ridge Preserve are within the Dallas city limits. The Cedar Ridge Preserve was known as the Dallas Nature Center, but the Audubon Dallas group 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 offers a variety of outdoor activities, including 10 miles (16 km) of hiking trails and picnic areas.

The city is also home to Texas's first and largest zoo, the 106-acre (0.43 km²) Dallas Zoo, which opened at its current location in 1888.[229][230]

Flags at City Hall Plaza, Dallas

Dallas City Hall

Built in 1913, the Dallas Municipal Building was Dallas's old City Hall facility

The former Dallas County Courthouse houses the Old Red Museum, displaying artifacts from Dallas County history

President Ronald Reagan giving his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Dallas

The city uses a council-manager government, with Eric Johnson serving as mayor,[231] T.C. Broadnax serving as city manager,[232] and 14 council members serving as representatives to the 14 council districts in the city.[233][234][235] This organizational structure was contested by some in favor of a strong-mayor city charter,[236] only to be rejected by Dallas voters.[237] In 1969, Anita N. Martínez become the first Latin American to sit as a councilwoman in Dallas's city council.[238]

In the 2017–2018 fiscal year, the city's total budget (the sum of operating and capital budgets) was $3.3 billion.[239] The city has seen a steady increase in its budget due to sustained growth: the budget was $1.7 billion in 2002–2003,[240] $1.9 billion in 2003–2004,[240] $2.0 billion in 2004–2005,[241] and $2.2 billion in 2005–2006.[241]

National and state legislators representing Dallas:

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which exercises original jurisdiction over 100 counties in North and West Texas, convenes in the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse in the Government District of Downtown. The same building additionally houses United States Bankruptcy and Magistrate Courts and a United States Attorney office. Dallas also is the seat of the Fifth Court of Appeals of Texas.

The city of Dallas is a Democratic stronghold, with over 69% of voters supporting Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election and 67% of voters supporting Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election (excluding write-ins).[243] Democratic voters dominate the majority of the city, especially the central urban core and southern sectors, with Republicans spreading a sliver of suburban neighborhoods in North Dallas. In the 2004 U.S. presidential elections, 57% of Dallas voters voted for John Kerry over George W. Bush.[244] Dallas County was closely divided, with 50% of voters voting for Bush and 49% voting for Kerry.[245] Results in the 2008 and 2012 elections favored Barack Obama, with the 44th President receiving 57% of Dallas County voters in both years, with greater margins in the city of Dallas. In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, approximately 66% of Dallas voters voted for Hillary Clinton, with 28% of city voters voting for Donald Trump.[243] Dallas County as a whole saw 61% of voters voting for Clinton, with 35% support for Trump.[243] In 2004, Lupe Valdez was elected Dallas County Sheriff. An open lesbian, Valdez was the only female sheriff in the state of Texas until her resignation. Despite controversies in her handling of county jails, she won re-election in 2008 with a 10-point victory over Republican challenger Lowell Cannaday.[246]

The Dallas area has a high number of colleges and universities. In addition to those in the city, the surrounding cities also have a number of universities, colleges, trade schools, and other educational institutions. The following describes the universities and their proximity to the city:

The Texas Legislature defines all areas in Dallas County and in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District as being in the service area of Dallas College (formerly Dallas County Community School District or DCCCD). Areas in Collin County are assigned to Collin College.[252]

• UT Southwestern Medical Center ("UTSW") is a prominent academic medical center north of downtown Dallas in the Southwestern Medical District, ranked in the top 30 nationally by U.S. News & World Report every year (in both Research and Clinical categories).[253] Six Nobel laureates have been among its faculty,[254] and UTSW was ranked #1 in the world among healthcare institutions in biomedical sciences by Nature in 2019.[255] The main teaching hospital of the university also ranks among the top 3 hospitals in the state of Texas.[256] UTSW is part of the University of Texas System.
• Texas Woman's University has operated a nursing school in Dallas at Parkland Memorial Hospital since 1966. The T. Boone Pickens Institute of Health Sciences-Dallas Center (IHSD) was opened in 2011 and is a purpose-built educational facility that replaced the building TWU had used since 1966. TWU also operated an occupational therapy school at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas from 1977 through 2011 before consolidating those functions into the new IHSD building at Parkland.[257]
• Paul Quinn College is a private, historically black college in southeast Dallas. Originally located in Waco, Texas, it moved to Dallas in 1990 and is housed on the campus of the former Bishop College, another private, historically black college. Dallas billionaire and entrepreneur Comer Cottrell, Jr., founder of ProLine Corporation, bought the campus of Bishop College and bequeathed it to Paul Quinn College in 1990 making it the only historically black college in the Dallas area.[258]
• The University of North Texas at Dallas is along Houston School Road.[259] In 2009 UNT at Dallas became the first public university within Dallas city limits.[260] The University of North Texas System requested approval from the Texas Legislature and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for the state's first new public law school in more than 40 years. The University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law was planned to be based at the Old Municipal Building in Downtown Dallas.[261]
• Dallas Baptist University is a private, coeducational university in the Mountain Creek area of southwest Dallas. Originally in Decatur, Texas, the school moved to Dallas in 1965.[262] The school enrolls over 5,600 students,[263] and offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees. Popular subjects include Biblical studies, business, and music degrees. DBU has been recognized by the National Council on Teacher Quality for their high-quality teacher preparatory degrees.[264] The school also maintains an Intensive English Program for international students wishing to enhance their knowledge of the English language. The campus is a Tree Campus USA and is recognized as one of the most beautiful university campuses in the Southwest U.S.[265] The school has also become nationally recognized for its baseball team which has made several playoff runs.
• Dallas Theological Seminary, also within the city limits, is recognized as one of the leading seminaries in Evangelical Protestantism. Situated 3 miles (5 km) east of Downtown Dallas, it has over 2,000 graduate students and has graduated over 12,000 alumni.
• Criswell College is within two blocks of Dallas Theological Seminary. Criswell was started by First Baptist Church of Dallas in the early 1970s.
• Dallas College (formerly Dallas County Community College District), the 2-year educational institution of Dallas County, has seven campuses throughout the area with branches in Dallas as well as the surrounding suburbs.

• Southern Methodist University is a private, coeducational university in University Park, an independent city that, together with the adjacent town of Highland Park, Dallas surrounds entirely. SMU was founded in 1911 by the Southern Methodist Church, and is now run by R. Gerald Turner. According to sources such as the U.S. News & World Report, SMU is the best overall undergraduate college in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the third best in the State of Texas.[266]
• The University of Texas at Dallas is a part of the University of Texas System. It is in the city of Richardson, about 15 miles (24 km) north of Downtown Dallas. It is in the heart of the Telecom Corridor. UT Dallas is an R1 or Tier-1 University, classified by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education as a doctoral-granting university with the highest research activity (it is among 115 universities in the US with this classification). UTD was ranked #3 (2013, 2015), #1 (2017), and #2 (2019) in the United States in the Times Higher Education "Young University Rankings" of the best universities that are 50 years old or younger.[267] The university has many collaborative research relationships with UT Southwestern Medical Center.
• The University of Dallas, in the suburb of Irving, is an enclave of Roman Catholicism in the majority Protestant religious landscape of Dallas–Fort Worth. St. Albert the Great Dominican Priory and Holy Trinity Seminary are on campus, while the Cistercian Monastery and Cistercian Preparatory School are just north of the UD campus across Texas State Highway 114. The Highlands School, a PK–12 Legionary school, is just west of the UD campus and connects to campus by jogging trails. As a center for religious study, the Cistercian Monastery continues to be notable for scholastic developments in theology.
• Located in Downtown Dallas, El Centro College is the flagship institution of the Dallas County Community College District. El Centro first opened its campus doors in 1966 and now enrolls over 10,000 students. El Centro was the first college of the DCCCD to offer a nursing program and has established relationships with several top-notch hospitals in the Dallas area. The college is also the only campus within DCCCD that offers a Food & Hospitality Program as well as renowned programs in fashion design and fashion marketing.[268]

• Texas A&M-Dallas Research and Extension Center[269]

Most people in the city of Dallas are within the Dallas Independent School District, the 12th-largest school district in the United States and second largest in Texas.[270] The school district operates independently of the city and enrolls over 161,000 students.[270] As of 2003 DISD has the majority of K–12 students in the city of Dallas, and a proportionately larger number of students who are not non-Hispanic white.[271] One of the district's magnet schools, the School for the Talented and Gifted in Oak Cliff, is consistently named the best public school in the United States by Newsweek, retaining the title for five consecutive years (2012–2016).[272] Another one of DISD's schools, the Science and Engineering Magnet, consistently ranks in the top 10 in the same publication.[273][274] Other Dallas high schools named to the list were Hillcrest, W. T. White, Williams Preparatory, and Woodrow Wilson high schools. In 2015, Woodrow Wilson was also named the top comprehensive high school in Dallas by local publication D Magazine.[275]

A few areas of Dallas also extend into other school districts, including Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Coppell, Duncanville, Garland,[276] Highland Park, Mesquite, Plano, and Richardson. The Plano and Richardson school districts have the largest numbers of public school students in Dallas who are not in Dallas ISD.[271] The Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District once served portions of southern Dallas, but it was shut down for the 2005–2006 year. WHISD students started attending other Dallas ISD schools during that time. Following the close, the Texas Education Agency consolidated WHISD into Dallas ISD.

Many school districts in Dallas County, including Dallas ISD, were formerly served by a governmental agency called Dallas County Schools. The system provided busing and other transportation services, access to a massive media library, technology services, strong ties to local organizations for education/community integration, and staff development programs.[277]

Students from Dallas attend many private schools in Dallas, and in nearby areas. These schools include:

The Dallas Police headquarters in the Cedars neighborhood

Dallas Police unit

Parkland Memorial Hospital

The Dallas Police Department provides most policing in Dallas. The Dallas chief of police is Eddie Garcia.[286] The police headquarters are in the Cedars neighborhood of southern Dallas.

Fire protection and emergency medical services in the city are provided by the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department. The Dallas Fire & Rescue chief is Dominique Artis.[287] The department operates the Dallas Firefighter's Museum built in 1907 along Parry Avenue near Fair Park. Dallas's oldest remaining fire station building still stands at the corner of McKinney Ave. and Leonard and was built in 1892. It was the home of Engine Co. Number 1, and is now a picture framing shop.

Dallas has many hospitals and several medical research facilities within its city limits. One major research center is the Dallas Medical District with the UT Southwestern Medical Center in the Stemmons Corridor, along with the affiliated UT Southwestern Medical School. The health care complex includes within its bounds Parkland Memorial Hospital, Children's Medical Center, William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital (formerly St. Paul University Hospital), and the William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.

Dallas also has a VA hospital in the southern portion of the city, the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The center is home to a Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP), part of an initiative by the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide mail-order prescriptions to veterans using computerization at strategic locations throughout the United States.

Other hospitals in the city include Baylor University Medical Center in East Dallas, Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Oak Cliff, Methodist Charlton Medical Center near Duncanville, Medical City Dallas Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital in North Dallas, and the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Oak Lawn.

Dallas is served by Dallas Water Utilities, which operates several waste treatment plants and pulls water from several area reservoirs.[288] Several companies maintain the city's electric system, including Stream Energy, Cirro Energy and Oncor Electric Delivery,[289] whose parent company, Energy Future Holdings Corporation, has headquarters in the city.[290]

The city offers garbage pickup and recycling service weekly through its Sanitation Services department.[291] Telephone networks, broadband internet, and cable television service are available from several companies, including AT&T, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon FiOS.

Dallas is at the confluence of four major interstate highways—Interstates 20, 30, 35E, and 45. The Dallas area freeway system is set up in the popular hub-and-spoke system, shaped much like a wagon wheel. Starting from the center of the city, a small freeway loop surrounds Downtown, followed by the Interstate 635 loop about 10 miles (16 km) outside Downtown, and ultimately the tolled President George Bush Turnpike.

Inside these freeway loops are other boulevard- and parkway-style loops, including Loop 12 and Belt Line Road. Another beltway around the city upwards of 45 miles (72 km) from Downtown is under plan in Collin County.

Radiating out of Downtown Dallas's freeway loop are the spokes of the area's highway system—Interstates 30, 35E, and 45, U.S. Highway 75, U.S. Highway 77, U.S. Highway 175, State Spur 366, the Dallas North Tollway, State Highway 114, U.S. Highway 80, and U.S. Highway 67. Other major highways around the city include State Highway 183 and State Spur 408.

The recently completed interchange at the intersection of Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway (Interstate 635) and Central Expressway (U.S. Highway 75) has five stacks and is aptly called the High Five Interchange. It is one of the few five-level interchanges in Dallas and is one of the largest freeway interchanges in the United States.

The following is a list of the freeways and tollways in the Dallas and Fort Worth area:

Two commercial airports serve Dallas: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field. In addition, Dallas Executive Airport (formerly Redbird Airport), serves as a general aviation airport for the city, and Addison Airport functions similarly just outside the city limits in the suburb of Addison. Two more general aviation airports are about 35 miles (56 km) north of Dallas in McKinney, and another two are in Fort Worth, on the west side of the Metroplex. Alliance Airport, in far North Fort Worth, is a cargo reliever airport to DFW and general aviation facility.

DFW International Airport is in the suburbs slightly north of and equidistant to Downtown Fort Worth and Downtown Dallas. In terms of size, DFW International is the largest airport in the state, the second largest in the United States, and ninth largest in the world; DFW International Airport is larger than the island of Manhattan.[297]

In terms of traffic, DFW International is the busiest airport in the state, fourth-busiest in the United States, and eleventh-busiest in the world. The headquarters of American Airlines, the largest air carrier in the world ahead of United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, is less than one mile (1.6 km) from DFW International within Fort Worth's city limits. Similarly, Love Field is within Dallas's city limits, about 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Downtown, and is headquarters to Southwest Airlines, the largest domestic airline in the United States.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is the Dallas-area public transportation authority that provides rail, buses and HOV lanes to commuters. DART began operating the first light rail system in Texas in 1996, and it is now the largest operator of light rail in the US.[298] Today, the system is the seventh-busiest light rail system in the country with approximately 55 stations on 72 miles (116 km) of light rail, and 10 stations on 35 miles (56 km) of commuter rail.[299] It includes four light rail lines and a commuter line: the Red Line, the Blue Line, the Green Line, the Orange Line, and the Trinity Railway Express.

The Red Line travels through Oak Cliff, South Dallas, Downtown, Uptown, North Dallas, Richardson and Plano, while the Blue Line goes through Oak Cliff, Downtown, Uptown, East Dallas, Lake Highlands, and Garland. The Red and Blue lines are conjoined between 8th & Corinth Station in Oak Cliff through Mockingbird Station in North Dallas. The two lines service Cityplace Station. The Green Line serves Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Love Field Airport, Stemmons Corridor, Victory Park, Downtown, Deep Ellum, Fair Park, South Dallas, and Pleasant Grove.

The Orange Line initially operated as a peak-service line providing extra capacity on portions of the Green and Red Lines (Bachman Station on the Green Line, through the Downtown transit mall, to Parker Road Station on the Red Line making a "U"-shape). However, the first stage of the Orange Line opened on December 6, 2010, extending its west end from Bachman to Belt Line Station in Irving. The second and final phase opened in August 2014 and provided DFW Airport with rail service. DFW Airport Station is the terminus for the Orange Line and connects Skylink.[300]

This provides passengers the convenience of disembarking the DART rail, proceeding to security check-in and immediately boarding Skylink to be quickly transported to their desired terminal. The Blue Line has also been extended by 4.5 miles (7.2 km) to serve Rowlett at the Rowlett Park & Ride facility.[301]

In August 2009, the Regional Transportation Council agreed to seek $96 million in federal stimulus dollars for a trolley project in Dallas and Fort Worth. The Oak Cliff Transit Authority took the lead with leaders envisioning a streetcar line that would link Union Station and the Dallas Convention Center in Downtown to Oak Cliff, Methodist Medical Center, and the Bishop Arts District via the Houston Street Viaduct.[302]

Dallas was awarded a $23 million TIGER grant towards the $58 million Dallas Streetcar Project in February 2010.[303]

In addition to light rail, Amtrak's Texas Eagle also serves Union Station, providing daily service east to Chicago and west to San Antonio, and thrice-weekly service west to Los Angeles. The Trinity Rail Express terminates at Union Station and T&P Station.

Dallas's sister cities are:[305]

• Brno, Czech Republic
• Dijon, France
• Monterrey, Mexico
• Kolkata, India
• Riga, Latvia
• Sendai, Japan
• Taipei, Taiwan
• Tianjin, China
• Valencia, Spain

Dallas has friendly relations with:[305]

• Dalian, China
• Nanjing, China
• Qingdao, China