The Dallas-Fort Worth area is flat to rolling. Southwest of Dallas is a low wooded ridge. The west of Fort Worth is part of the Cross Timbers region, which has a little more forest than the prairies that dominate the north and south of the Dallas-Fort Worth region. The agglomeration has no major rivers, but there are various water reservoirs around and in the urban area that provide water supply and recreation. The climate is humid and subtropical. In summer, maximum temperatures of over 35 degrees Celsius are no exception. Severe weather can be frequent, with the occasional tornado. The agglomeration is very green because many suburbs have many trees. The urban area has many more trees than the Dallas-Fort Worth countryside, which is mostly prairie.

Economy

The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge (Spur 366) over the Trinity River.

According to usprivateschoolsfinder, the Dallas-Fort Worth region has a diverse economy. The DFW region is the home of 20 Fortune 500 companies. The oil and gas industry remains important, but its share is smaller than it used to be. Particularly around Fort Worth, oil and gas is still being extracted within the urban area, from the Barnett Shale. The other extraction of oil and gas is further outside the region. The Exxon Mobil headquarters is located in the suburb of Irving.

Historically, Dallas and Fort Worth are also associated with agriculture, in particular Fort Worth was known as the cow capital of the United States. In the 1920s, 30% of Texas cotton was produced in the Dallas area. The importance of agriculture declined sharply later on, but it is still an important economic pillar in the periphery of the agglomeration.

Telecommunications and IT are also of great importance to the regional economy. Well-known are large companies such as AT&T and Texas Instruments. In the suburb of Richardson is the so-called “Telecom Corridor”, where many IT companies are located. Dallas is sometimes referred to as “Silicon Prairie” due to the large number of tech companies in the region.

Aviation also plays a crucial role, the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, known as “DFW”, the second largest airport in the United States by area, and is the fourth busiest airport in number of flight movements and ninth in number. passengers in the world. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are headquartered at DFW Airport. There is a large Lockheed Martin factory in Fort Worth. Dallas is a major business city, the third largest in the United States. In particular, the Dallas Convention Center is one of the most important convention centers in the country.

Tourism hardly plays a role in the region. Although the Dallas-Fort Worth region is one of the best performing conurbations in the United States economically, it has little to offer tourists. Many shopping enthusiasts come from the wider region to Dallas because of the wide range of shopping malls. Dallas has the largest number of shopping centers per capita. The Dallas Galleria and NorthPark Center, in particular, attract shoppers from outside the region.

Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the largest recipients of domestic migration. The strong economy and affordable housing are an important driver for people to move to the region from other parts of the country. Dallas has one of the lowest house prices relative to income in cities with more than 5 million inhabitants.

History

Dallas and Fort Worth were founded in quick succession, Dallas in 1841 and Fort Worth as a fortress of the United States Army in 1849. Both cities developed during the 19th century. Dallas became an important rail hub and industrial city, while Fort Worth became known as a center on the Chisholm Trail, which transported livestock via Fort Worth to the railroads in Missouri and later Kansas. Fort Worth has long maintained its character as the cow capital of the United States. In 1900, Dallas had 42,000 residents and Fort Worth 27,000. In 1909, the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi was built in Dallas. The city’s population began to grow rapidly, with Fort Worth always somewhat in the shadows, Dallas has always been a somewhat larger city. In 1940, Dallas had a population of 295,000 and Fort Worth 178. 000 inhabitants. Fort Worth became an important starting point for oil and gas extraction in western Texas from the 1970s. Dallas became world famous in 1963 when US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in the city.

Both Dallas and Fort Worth grew rapidly starting in the 1970s, with a massive development of suburban suburbs outside the city limits, first between the two cities, and later mainly north of the cities. In 1990, Dallas crossed the 1 million population mark. The region became known for the sheer volume of new housing to accommodate the explosive population growth. After 2000, Fort Worth was the fastest growing major city in the United States for some time. The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area doubled from 3 million in 1980 to 6.4 million in 2010, quickly becoming one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States.