From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Dallas, Texas)
This article is about the city in the U.S. state of Texas. For other uses, see Dallas (disambiguation).
Dallas
— City —
City of Dallas
Clockwise from top: Downtown Dallas from the Trinity River floodplain, the Meyerson Symphony Center, the Southern Methodist University (SMU) campus, and Bank of America Plaza
Flag
Seal
Nickname(s): "Big D"
Location in Dallas County and the state of Texas
Dallas
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 32°46′58″N 96°48′14″WCoordinates: 32°46′58″N 96°48′14″W
Country United States of America
State Texas
Incorporated 2 February 1856
Counties Dallas, Collin, Denton, Rockwall, Kaufman
Government
- Type Council-manager
- Body Dallas City Council
- Mayor Dwaine Caraway
Area
- City 385.0 sq mi (997.1 km2)
- Land 342.5 sq mi (887.2 km2)
- Water 42.5 sq mi (110.0 km2)
Elevation 430 ft (131 m)
Population (2010 United States Census)[1]
- City 1,197,816 (9th U.S.)
- Density 3,697.44/sq mi (1,427.38/km2)
- Metro 6,477,315 (4th U.S.)
- Demonym Dallasite
Time zone Central (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST) Central (UTC-5)
Area code(s) 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 dallascityhall.com
Night view of Elm Street, January 1942
Dallas ( /ˈdæləs/) is the third-largest city in Texas[4][5] and the ninth-largest in the United States. Divided between Collin, Dallas, Denton, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties, the city had a 2010 population of approximately 1.2 million, according to the United States Census Bureau.[6] The city is the largest economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2010 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of roughly 6.5 million as of July 2009.[7] The metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States.[8]
Dallas was founded in 1841 and formally incorporated as a city in February 1856. The city's economy is primarily based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, computer technology, energy, and transportation, home to several Fortune 500 companies.[9] Located in North Texas and a major city in the American South, Dallas is the core of the largest inland metropolitan area in the United States that lacks any navigable link to the sea.[10] 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. 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.[11] It was rated as a beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network.[12]
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Geography
2.1 Topography
2.2 Climate
3 Cityscape
3.1 Architecture
3.2 Neighborhoods
4 Culture
4.1 Cuisine
4.2 Arts
4.3 Media
4.4 Religion
4.5 Events
5 Sports
5.1 Soccer
5.2 Hockey
5.3 Football
5.4 Baseball
5.5 Horse racing
5.6 Rugby League
5.7 Rugby Union
5.8 Cricket
5.9 Other sports
5.9.1 Recreation
6 Economy
7 Law and government
7.1 Politics
7.2 Crime and enforcement
7.3 Fire protection
8 Demographics
9 Education
9.1 Colleges and universities
9.1.1 Colleges and universities in the Dallas city limits
9.1.2 Colleges and universities near Dallas
9.1.3 University Research Center
9.2 Other area colleges and universities
9.3 Primary and secondary schools
9.3.1 Private schools
9.4 Libraries
10 Infrastructure
10.1 Health systems
10.2 Transportation
10.2.1 Highway transportation
10.2.2 Public Transportation
10.2.3 Air transportation
10.3 Utilities
11 Places of interest
12 Sister cities
13 See also
14 References
15 Further reading
16 External links
History
Main article: History of Dallas
See also: Historical events of Dallas
Dallas was founded in 1841 and formally incorporated as a city in February 1856. 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 Native Americans. 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.[13] 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.[14] In 1839, four years into the Republic's existence, Warren Angus Ferris surveyed the area around present-day Dallas. Two 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. The name of the city has uncertain origins. See History of Dallas, Texas (1839-1855) for more information on that.
Geography
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 square miles (997.1 km2), 342.5 square miles (887.1 km2) of it being land and 42.5 square miles (110.1 km2) of it (11.03%) water. 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
Main article: Geology of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex
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.[15] Since it was rerouted in 1908, 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,[16] which was initialized 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.[17]
White Rock Lake, a reservoir constructed at the beginning of the 20th century, is Dallas' other significant water feature. The lake and surrounding park are a popular destination among 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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20]
Climate
Main article: Climate of Dallas
A March photograph from Oak Cliff park
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 30 °F (−1 °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 2–3 days out of the year for an annual average of 2.5 inches. Some areas in the region, however, receive more than that, while other areas receive negligible snowfall or none at all.[21] 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.[22] 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.[23] 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.[24] [25] 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.[26] 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.[27] Another major contributor to air pollution in Dallas is exhaust from automobiles. Due to the metropolitan area's spread-out nature and high amount of urban sprawl, automobiles are the only viable mode of transportation for many.
The city's all-time recorded high temperature is 113 °F (45 °C), while the all-time recorded low is −8 °F (−22 °C). The average daily low in Dallas is 55.0 °F (12.8 °C), and the average daily high in Dallas is 76.3 °F (24.6 °C).[28] Dallas receives approximately 33.3 inches
No comments:
Post a Comment