Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Common name: The Metroplex |
|
| Largest city Other cities |
Dallas Fort Worth Arlington Plano Denton |
| Population | Ranked 4th in the U.S. |
| - Total | 6,300,006 (2008 est.)[1] |
| - Density | 634/sq. mi. 245/km² |
| Area | 9,286 sq. mi. 24,059 km² |
| State(s) | Texas |
| Elevation | |
| - Highest point | 1,368[2] feet (417 m) |
| - Lowest point | < 295[3] feet (< 90 m) |
The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The metropolitan area is further divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area informally refer to it as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, or simply The Metroplex (the term was originally invented to refer to Dallas/Fort Worth), which is the economic and cultural hub of the region commonly called North Texas or North Central Texas.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's July 1, 2008 estimate, the metropolitan area has a population of 6,300,006.[1] According to the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the metroplex has a population near 6,538,850. The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington MSA is the largest metropolitan area in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States. The metroplex also encompasses 9,286 square miles (24,100 km2) of total area: 8,991 sq mi (23,290 km2) is land, while 295 sq mi (760 km2) is water, making it larger in area than the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. It is also the 4th largest metropolitan area by population and gross metropolitan product (GMP) in the United States, and approximately tenth largest by GMP in the world.
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[edit] Metroplex counties
[edit] US Government Designated
- Collin County
- Dallas County
- Delta County
- Denton County
- Ellis County
- Hunt County
- Johnson County
- Kaufman County
- Parker County
- Rockwall County
- Tarrant County
- Wise County
[edit] Metroplex cities, towns, and CDPs
Note: Cities and towns are categorized based on the latest population estimates from the United States Census Bureau (as of July 1, 2006)[4] and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (as of January 1, 2007).[5] No population estimates are released for Census-designated places (CDPs), which are marked with an asterisk (*). These places are categorized based on their 2000 census population.
[edit] Principal cities
[edit] Cities with over 100,000 population
[edit] Cities, towns, and CDPs with 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants
[edit] Cities, towns, and CDPs with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants
[edit] Unincorporated places
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 5,161,544 people, 1,881,056 households, and 1,301,993 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 69.25% White, 13.88% African American, 0.57% Native American, 3.78% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 10.01% from other races, and 2.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.65% of the population.
The median income for a household in the MSA was $48,062, and the median income for a family was $55,263. Males had a median income of $39,581 versus $27,446 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $21,839.
[edit] Combined Statistical Area
The Dallas–Fort Worth Combined Statistical Area is made up of 19 counties in north central Texas. The statistical area includes two metropolitan areas and five micropolitan areas. As of the 2000 Census, the CSA had a population of 5,487,956 (though a July 1, 2007 estimate placed the population at 6,498,410).[7] The CSA definition encompasses 14,628 sq mi (37,890 km2). of area, of which 14,126 sq mi (36,590 km2). is land and 502 sq mi (1,300 km2). is water. The Dallas/Fort Worth Combined Statistical Area is the largest Primary Census Statistical Area (PCSA) in Texas in both area and population.
[edit] Components
- Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
- Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington (Collin, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Wise counties)
- Sherman-Denison (Grayson County)
- Micropolitan Statistical Areas (μSAs)
- Athens (Henderson County)
- Bonham (Fannin County)
- Gainesville (Cooke County)
- Granbury (Hood and Somervell counties)
- Mineral Wells (Palo Pinto County)
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 5,487,956 people, 2,006,665 households, and 1,392,540 families residing within the CSA. The racial makeup of the CSA was 70.41% White, 13.34% African American, 0.59% Native American, 3.58% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 9.62% from other races, and 2.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20.83% of the population.
The median income for a household in the CSA was $43,836, and the median income for a family was $50,898. Males had a median income of $37,002 versus $25,553 for females. The per capita income for the CSA was $20,460.
[edit] Geography
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The Metroplex overlooks mostly prairie land with a few rolling hills dotted by man-made lakes cut by streams, creeks and rivers surrounded by forest land. The Metroplex is situated in the Texas blackland prairies region named for the fertile black soil suitable for growing cotton and other crops especially the rural areas of Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties.
Many areas of Denton, Johnson, Parker, Tarrant and Wise counties are located in the Fort Worth Prairie region of North Texas which has a different soil type from that of the Texas blackland prairie making it less fertile and more rocky. Consequently, most of the rural land on the Fort Worth Prairie is used as ranch land. A large onshore natural gas field, the Barnett Shale, lies underneath this area causing many to construct natural gas wells on their land especially in Denton, Tarrant and Wise counties. While new development is replacing crop fields, it is still common to see crop fields surrounded by developed residential or commercial land.
South of Dallas and Fort Worth is a line of rugged hills that goes north to south about 15 miles (24 km) that looks similar to the Texas Hill Country 200 miles (320 km) to the south.
[edit] Description of economic activity
The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth are the anchor cities of the Metroplex. Dallas and its suburbs have one of the highest concentrations of corporate headquarters in the United States. As such, one of the largest industries in the Metroplex is conducting business. The Metroplex also contains the largest Information Technology industry base in the state (often referred to as Silicon Prairie), owing to the large number of corporate IT projects and the presence of numerous electronics, computing and telecom firms such as Texas Instruments, Electronic Data Systems, Perot Systems, i2, AT&T, and Verizon in and around Dallas. On the other end of the business spectrum, and on the other side of the Metroplex, the Texas farming and ranching industry is based in Fort Worth. According to the Dallas Business Journal's 2006 Book of Lists, American Airlines is the largest employer in the Metroplex. Several major defense manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, Bell Helicopter Textron, and Raytheon, maintain significant operations in the Metroplex. ExxonMobil, the #1 corporation on the Fortune 500 listings, is headquartered in Irving, Texas.
[edit] Transportation
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The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (IATA airport code: DFW), located between Dallas and Fort Worth, is the largest and busiest airport in the state of Texas. It is the third busiest airport in the world in terms of aircraft movements and the seventh busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, transporting 59,784,876 passengers in 2007.[8] American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, has its headquarters next to DFW Airport. American, formerly the largest airline in the world in terms of passengers transported and fleet size, is a predominant leader in domestic routes and operations.
Love Field Airport (IATA Airport Code: DAL) is located in Dallas. Southwest Airlines, based in Dallas, is headquartered next to Love Field. The airline is a predominant domestic low-cost airline.
Public transit options exist but are limited in scope. Dallas County has bus service and light rail operated by DART, going as far north as Plano, but there are still many suburbs without service. Denton County has bus service limited to Denton and Lewisville owned by the Denton County Transportation Authority. A light rail line is in planning that would parallel I-35E to connect Carrollton, Lewisville, Lake Dallas, and Denton, with plans to connect it to a future DART rail line. Tarrant County has bus service operated by the T, available only in Fort Worth. The train that serves Fort Worth and the eastern suburbs is operated by Trinity Railway Express; it connects from downtown Fort Worth to downtown Dallas, where it links to the DART rail system.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area has hundreds of lane miles of freeways and interstates. The Metroplex has the second most freeway miles per capita in the nation, behind only the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. Like most major metropolitan areas in Texas, most interstates and freeways have access roads where most of the businesses are located; these access roads have slip ramps that merge onto the freeways and interstates. North-south Interstates include I-35 and I-45. East-west routes include I-30 and I-20. I-35 splits into I-35E and I-35W from Denton to Hillsboro: I-35W goes through Fort Worth while I-35E goes through Dallas. I-30 connects Dallas and Fort Worth, and I-45 connects Dallas to Houston. HOV lanes currently exist along I-35E, I-30, I-635, US 67, and US 75. I-20 bypasses both Dallas and Fort Worth to the south while its loop, I-820, loops around Fort Worth. I-635 splits to the north of I-20 and loops around east and north Dallas, ending at SH 121 north of DFW Airport. I-35E, Loop 12, and Spur 408 ultimately connect to I-20 southwest of Dallas, completing the west bypass loop around Dallas. A large number of construction projects are planned or are already underway in the region to alleviate congestion. Due largely to funding issues, many of the new projects involve building new tollways or adding tolled express lanes to existing highways.
Related topics
[edit] Largest area private-sector employers
| company | # of employees locally | type of business |
|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 22,077 | Commercial airline |
| Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. | 21,133 | Retail |
| Texas Health Resources | 16,289 | Health care |
| Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company | 15,900 | Military aircraft design and production |
| Baylor Health Care System | 15,200 | Health care |
| Citigroup | 15,000 | Financial Services |
| AT&T, Inc. | 13,729 | Data, voice, networking and internet services |
| Verizon Communications | 12,500 | Telecommunications |
| Texas Instruments | 10,600 | Semiconductor manufacturing |
| Albertsons | 10,100 | Retail grocery |
| Brinker International | 10,000 | Restaurants |
| HCA Healthcare | 9,896 | Health care |
| JPMorgan Chase | 8,800 | Financial services |
| J.C. Penney Company, Inc. | 7,900 | Retail |
| Kroger Food Stores | 7,600 | Retail grocery |
| Target Corporation | 7,554 | Retail |
| Electronic Data Systems (EDS) | 7,300 | Information technology services |
| Bank of America | 7,000 | Financial services |
| Tom Thumb Food & Pharmacy (Safeway Inc.) | 6,314 | Retail grocery |
| Southwest Airlines | 5,543 | Commercial airline |
| Bell Helicopter Textron | 5,301 | Aircraft manufacturing |
| Minyard Food Stores, Inc. | 5,091 | Retail grocery |
| Blockbuster, Inc. | 4,500 | Retail video and games |
| General Motors | 4,030 | Automotive manufacturer |
| RadioShack Corp. | 3,896 | Electronics retailer |
| Sprint | 3,500 | Communications products |
[edit] Media
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The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth have their own newspapers, The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, respectively. Historically, the two papers were restricted in readership to their own counties; Tarrant County households would never read the Morning News and vice versa. As the two cities' suburbs have grown together in recent years, it is now common to find locations where both of the newspapers are sold. This pattern has been repeated in other print media, radio, and television, but since the 1970s all of the television stations and most of the FM radio stations have chosen to transmit from Cedar Hill so as to serve the entire market, and are programmed likewise. A recent phenomenon seen most clearly in the DFW market has been the rise of "80-90 move-ins", whereby stations have been moved from distant markets, in some cases as far away as Oklahoma, and relicensed to anonymous small towns in the Metroplex to serve as additional DFW stations. According to RadioTime, the market has 38 AM stations, 58 FM stations (many of them class Cs), and 18 full-power television stations.
See Also:
[edit] Sports
The Metroplex is one of just thirteen American metropolitan areas that has a team in each of the four major professional sports leagues. Major professional sports first came to the area in 1960, when the Dallas Cowboys began competing in the National Football League and the Dallas Texans began competing in the American Football League (the Texans would later relocate to Kansas City and become the Chiefs). In 1972, Major League Baseball's Washington Senators moved to Arlington to become the Texas Rangers. The National Basketball Association expanded into North Texas in 1980 when the Dallas Mavericks were added to the league. The fourth piece was added in 1993 when the Minnesota North Stars of the National Hockey League became the Dallas Stars. The area is also home to many other minor-league professional teams, four colleges that compete in NCAA Division I athletics and has played host to many premiere sports events on both an annual and one-time basis.
Major Professional Sports Teams
| Club | Sport | Founded | League | Venue |
| Dallas Cowboys | Football | 1960 | NFL | Cowboys Stadium |
| Texas Rangers | Baseball | 1972^ | MLB | Rangers Ballpark in Arlington |
| Dallas Mavericks | Basketball | 1980 | NBA | American Airlines Center |
| FC Dallas | Soccer | 1996 | Major League Soccer | Pizza Hut Park |
| Dallas Stars | Hockey | 1993^ | NHL | American Airlines Center |
^- Indicates year team relocated to the area
Other Professional Teams
^- Indicates year team relocated to the area
Division I College Athletics
Sports Events Hosted
[edit] See also
- Census-designated place
- Geology of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex
- United States metropolitan area
- Texaplex
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b "Table 1. Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 (CBSA-EST2008-01)" (CSV). 2008 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2009-03-19. http://www.census.gov/popest/metro/tables/2008/CBSA-EST2008-01.csv. Retrieved on 2009-03-21.
- ^ Slipdown Mountain, in western Parker County. Note: Some editions of the Texas Almanac prior to 2000 (the latest being the 1998-1999 edition, ed. Mary G. Ramos) give a maximum elevation of 1,553 feet (473 m) in Hunt County; this is probably an error. Texas Almanac data, depending on the edition, are obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Texas Railroad Commission, and the Texas Department of Transportation.
- ^ Southeastern Ellis County, along the Trinity river, where Ellis County, Navarro County and Henderson County meet. Note: Texas Almanac editions after 1998-1999 give a minimum elevation of 300 feet (approximately 90 m) for both Ellis and Kaufman Counties, but these appears to be estimates.
- ^ "Table 4. Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in Texas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006" (CSV). United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2007-06-28. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2006-04-48.csv. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ "2007 Population Estimates by City" (TXT). North Central Texas Council of Governments, Research and Services Division. 2007-03-22. http://www.nctcog.org/ris/demographics/population/City2007.txt. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "Table 2. Annual Estimates of the Population of Combined Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007 (CBSA-EST2007-02)" (CSV). 2007 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2008-03-27. http://www.census.gov/popest/metro/tables/2007/CBSA-EST2007-02.csv. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
- ^ http://www.airports.org/cda/aci_common/display/main/aci_content07_c.jsp?zn=aci&cp=1-5-54-55_666_2__
[edit] External links
[edit] Official sites
- North Texas Commission
- DFW International Airport
- Greater Dallas Chamber
- Visit Dallas Fort Worth
- Metroplex Business Directory
[edit] Additional information
- Fort Worth Star-Telegram - major Fort Worth newspaper
- The Dallas Morning News - major Dallas newspaper
- Metroplex Daily
- Dallas Fort Worth Travel Guide
- TourTexas.com: DFW travel and entertainment information guide
- Dallas-Fort Worth Metro photoblog
[edit] Transportation
- DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) - Dallas Area Bus and Rail Service
- The "T" (Fort Worth Transportation Authority) - Fort Worth Bus Service
- TRE (Trinity Railway Express) - Rail Service
- DCTA (Denton County Transportation Authority) - Denton/Highland Village/Lewisville Bus Service
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