Dallas is the second largest city in the state of Texas and is the ninth-largest city overall in the United States. Over 6.1 million people call the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area home. Founded in 1841, this city’s economy is primarily based on income from the petroleum, telecommunications, computer, banking, and transportation industries. Dallas is sometimes referred to as the “Silicon Valley of Texas” due to the large number of telecom companies in the area. Some of the better known tech companies who call Dallas home are Texas Instruments, AT&T, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Nokia, Rockwell, Sprint, Verizon, and Research in Motion (RIM).
Besides technology companies, Dallas also is the home for Dean Foods, Southwest Airlines, Tenet Healthcare, Blockbuster, and 7-Eleven. Many companies are drawn to the Dallas area due to its generally warm climate and its many recreational areas throughout the region. In all, the City of Dallas maintains over 400 parks totaling over 21,000 acres. The city tends to over 61 miles of jogging/bike trails, 232 playgrounds, six 18-hole golf courses, and 477 athletic fields making the city very desirable for any type of person.
As a city big on sports, Dallas has a total of six professional sports teams. Dallas is home to the Texas Rangers (MLB), Dallas Cowboys (NFL), Dallas Mavericks (NBA), Dallas Stars (NHL), Dallas Desperados (AFL), and FC Dallas (MLS). Besides being big on sports, Dallas is also big on education. In the city of Dallas, there are a total of 337 public schools, 38 colleges, and 32 libraries. Among some of the most notable colleges in Dallas are the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas Baptist University, University of North Texas at Dallas, and Southern Methodist University.
