Dallas is a jungle but Dallas gives a beautiful light...

I have relatives coming in town this week. Whenever I have relatives or friends coming into town, I am reminded of why I like Dallas so much. I am reminded of why I like Texas so much, too, but that is a topic for another time. Plus, to expound on the merits of Texas would just take forever and I am trying to keep this one brief and to the point. Dallas…

Ok, I just spent twenty minutes updating the third party wireless assistant I use because it doesn’t communicate with the wireless network on campus that well and it locked up the wireless on my computer. I finally get the damn thing to install correctly and start up, then it tells me that I can’t enter my license key because I am not connect directly to a router that is directly connected to the internet. I’m guessing on campus a hub is used to split the signal to various routers throughout the building I’m in, so I’m stick with a trial version I can’t really use. Ugh, what a pain in the rear. I completely lost my train of thought because I had to restart my computer. Where was I? Oh, I was going to use a quote…

Dallas, as Jimmie Dale Gilmore puts it, “is a jewel, oh yeah, Dallas is a beautiful sight.” My friend Jon put it simply when we were driving into Dallas from a road trip to Waco, and said that he just feels excited to see the downtown skyline coming into focus from the distance. It is the third largest city in Texas and the ninth largest in the United States. Dallas is the core of the largest inland metropolitan area in the United States that lacks any navigable link to the sea. The city's prominence despite this comes from its historical importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries, its position along numerous railroad lines, a strong industrial and financial sector, and its status as a major inland port (due largely to the presence of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, one of the largest and busiest in the world). The city was founded in 1841 and formally incorporated in 1856. With a population of over 1.3 million, the city is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, which the residents refer to as the Metroplex.

I could go on with a history lesson about Dallas, but that just wouldn’t get my point across. I’m talking about why I like living in Dallas in the present, not why I’m proud of Dallas, a pride that comes from its prominence as a focal point of both Texas and American history. Here and now, Dallas has everything you need within its 385 square mile area, and if you want more, you can travel throughout the Metroplex’s 9286 square mile area and find it. Dallas is flat, with some small areas of rolling hills and a river, the Trinity, wandering beneath it. It’s hot during the summer, one of the hottest areas in the United States during those months. It’s mild in the winter, wet in the spring, and cool in the fall; though the temperature and climate changes don’t necessitate all four seasons. If you live here you know it’s either hot (summer) or cool (winter). Dallas has a signature skyline, with several buildings over 700 feet tall and all sorts of architectural eras and styling. It is punctuated, literally, but Reunion Tower, which is one of the most recognizable parts of the skyline. Moving from the skyscrapers of downtown you go in any direction and find yourself in a unique neighborhood, offering cultural, retail, dining, and nightlife diversity to fit any taste. I can’t go into all of them, but let’s just say there is no lack of places to go or people to see.

The culture of Dallas is unreal. Though politically the Metroplex is the third most liberal of Texas metropolitan areas after Austin (Hippies) and El Paso (need I explain), the city itself can be seen as moderate. I don’t want to go into the scandalousness of Dallas politics any more than that, other than to say that since I live in the north Dallas area I vote with the majority of my neighbors for Republicans. Let’s just move on to the food. Dallas has been on the forefront of barbeque, authentic Mexican, and Tex-Mex cuisine for years. Dallas features the third nationally ranked steakhouse, Bob’s Steak and Chop House, the best hotel restaurant in the US according to a Zagat survey, Fearing’s (the signature restaurant of chef Dean Fearing, a personal hero), and is the starting place for famous chain restaurants Chili’s and Romano’s Macaroni Grill. Let us not forget the best thing to come from the Dallas culinary scene…the FROZEN MARGARITA…invented right here in Dallas. After you’ve eaten, you can take in a symphony or an art exposition in the Arts District. Go to the Meyerson Symphony Center to experience one of the most acoustically sound places I’ve been to and performed in or go to the Dallas Museum of Art to see their intriguing collection of Egyptian and Nubian art. High art not your scene, find yourself a concert at one of several music venues in the downtown area. Or you can hit up one of the several small independent art galleries nestled among the downtown shopping, featuring up and coming local artist with unique flare. What if art is not your thing at all? Dallas is home to several major league franchises spanning the majority of professional sports. This includes the Dallas Mavericks (making their NBA finals playoff run right now), the Dallas Stars (enjoying their NHL off season, I’m sure) and the Dallas Desperados (bagging groceries at Kroger since Arena football may never be coming back). Like the soccer scene, then check out an FC Dallas (perennial MLS contender) game. Fan of semi-pro hockey (who isn’t), then you can see the Texas Tornado (three-time champions of the NAHL) play at the Déjà Blue Arena in Frisco. What about football? Need I really mention America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys, who will be moving into their new (super) stadium in Arlington next season? Speaking of Arlington, what about a little baseball with the Texas Rangers, or their double A farm team, the Frisco Roughriders. If you’re on the other side of Interstate 35, the Fort Worth Cats can fill your need for the stick and ball sport. Other teams in the Dallas area include the Dallas Harlequins of the USA Rugby Super League, as well as the Dallas Diamonds, the two-time national champions of the Women's Professional Football League, and the Dallas Revolution, an Independent Women's Football League team.

I’m getting long winded, as I knew I would, so I am going to cut it off there. Needless to say, if you have a need for recreation, trendy local events, religious facilities, medical attention, or higher education, you can find a variety of those in Dallas as well. I guess that is kind of the point I’m trying to get to…variety. Dallas is so diverse and large that you don’t have to go the same place or do the same thing if you don’t want to. There is always something new you can try, something strange you haven’t done, or some group of people you haven’t experienced. Sure, I don’t take advantage of all the great opportunities I have living in Dallas unless I have relatives coming to town, but knowing that I have them and, not to be smug, they don’t, is nice. Big Tuck makes my point clearly in his song “Welcome to Dallas” when he says, “Never been to Dallas, then you ain't never been to Texas.”