Quality of life in Dallas

Dallas, the ninth largest city in the United States and the third largest in the state of Texas, is an impressive melting pot of culture and character. As the undisputed center of oil and cotton industry in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Dallas steadily grew to become a classic American boomtown of the new age, and is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. Dallas largely fell victim to its own success extending deep into the automobile era, becoming a prime example of urban sprawl, with a downtown strangled by a spaghetti of highways, yet started to reinvent its urban self at the beginning of the 21st century.

Boasting high-end luxury hotels, innumerable fine dining spots, and one of the busiest airports in the world, Dallas maintains an upscale ethos also reflected by an affluent population, world-class museums, and a shimmering modern skyline. Its history has been marred by the infamous assassination of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, but there is more historic and contemporary heritage to be discovered in the city.

Many non-natives often have a hard time sizing up Dallas, and indeed, the entire Metroplex. Dallas does not fit many of the typical Texan stereotypes (Western, laid-back, casual), but it also doesn't often live up to some of the more notorious stereotypes of its own (pretentious, unfriendly, sterile). The truth is, like in many things, somewhere in between.