Dallas – Dwelling on the Meadow

Dallas is located in the south central United States, in the northeast region of Texas. It is the ninth most populous city in the United States, with roughly 1.3 million people. Dallas is a center of banking, finance, telecommunications, computer technology, energy, education, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation. Occupied initially by the Caddo Native American tribe, the area of Dallas was claimed variously by the Spanish, French, and Mexico. In 1836 Dallas joined Texas in asserting its independence, later to be admitted to the United States in 1845. Dallas was incorporated as a city in 1856. From its roots as a center for cotton production and transport, Dallas later saw a boom with the oil industry and the arrival of rail transportation in 1872. Dallas is the location of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. It has also been known as the “dining out” capital of the United States. It is variously speculated that the name Dallas derives from old British dol, meaning “meadow,” and gwas, meaning “dwelling.”

The Dallas Economy: Big D Dollars

Dallas is a major business and financial center. The city is home to twelve companies listed on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S companies. Energy, manufacturing of computer and electronic products, banking and finance, transportation, education, telecommunications, transportation, tourism, and food products and preparation are all drivers of the Dallas economy.

Education in Dallas: Mixed Figures

Educational attainment among the Dallas populace is mixed compared to that of the U.S. as a whole. As of 2000, roughly 70% of its residents aged 25 and older had completed high school, below the national average, and roughly 28% had completed college, above the national average. There are 38 colleges and universities in Dallas. The University of Texas at Dallas is a well-known state public university branch located in nearby Richardson, Texas, with over 17,000 students. Among other institutions of higher learning in Dallas are: Southern Methodist University, University of North Texas at Dallas, and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.

The Crime Scene in Dallas: Middling

Dallas ranks as safer with respect to violent crimes than other large cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Boston, but lower than other large, well-ranked cities such as New York and Los Angeles. It also has substantially higher rates of theft, burglary, and auto theft as compared to New York and Los Angeles.

The Dallas Population and Politics: Democratic Oasis in a Republican Region

Dallas has a population of approximately 1.3 million people. Its population has been growing at a rate of 1.0% per year over the past decade. The city of Dallas has generally leaned Democratic in its political preferences over the past few decades, contrary to the surrounding region. Among the more than 700,000 votes cast in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Dallas voters chose Democratic candidate Barack Obama over Republican candidate John McCain by a ratio of 57%-42%.