Dallas Life

Art and Culture

Residents and visitors alike enjoy a vibrant arts scene. The 68-acre Dallas Arts District, located close to the UT Southwestern campus, is the largest urban arts district in the country. It includes the Dallas Museum of Art, the Meyerson Symphony Center, the AT&T Performing Arts Center, and the Nasher Sculpture Center, among other facilities. In Fort Worth, the cultural district includes several top museums, including the Kimbell Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum. And Fort Worth's western heritage is on display in the city's famed historical Stockyards District.

Dallas’ Sixth Floor Museum in Dealy Plaza—infamous for its association with the Kennedy assassination—is also a popular historic attraction.

Dallas is also home to the Dallas International Film Festival with more than 40,000 attendees, this annual film festival features 180 feature-length and short films representing more than 25 countries.

Restaurants

Restaurants of all types abound in Dallas-Fort Worth as well, ranging from world-renowned, five-star establishments to undiscovered hole-in-the-wall eateries. Dallas is home to more restaurants and shopping centers per capita than any other major U.S. city, so your options are limitless; you can have steaks one night and Tex-Mex the next.

Music and Entertainment

Dallas is one the top 10 largest cities in the U.S., and on any given night you can find a blend of live music performances, professional sports and a world-class arts scene. DFW boasts some of the best music and entertainment anywhere, from Deep Ellum—a haven for alternative music and eclectic shops and galleries—to the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and Winspear Opera House (Dallas) and Bass Performance Hall (Fort Worth). In addition, the American Airlines Center in Dallas hosts many of the top concert acts in the world.

Few areas can match the endless sports excitement found in the Metroplex, which is home to professional football (Cowboys), basketball (Mavericks), baseball (Rangers), hockey (Stars) and soccer (FC Dallas) teams, as well as professional auto racing (NASCAR) and professional golf (PGA) events.

Shopping

The Dallas-Fort Worth area offers virtually unlimited shopping opportunities, from upscale malls such as the Galleria and NorthPark Center in Dallas, to large outlet malls like Grapevine Mills, to traditional malls, small boutiques and specialty stores. Neighborhood centers like Highland Park Village, Bishops Arts District and Legacy Town Center offer a wide variety of shopping experiences in great locations around the entire city.

Outdoor Activities

Dallas has several scenic spots for outdoor activity, including the 1,015–acre White Rock Lake and its surrounding park and neighboring arboretum. This park is a perfect place for picnicking, hiking, biking, fishing, sailing, or bird watching, and its trails set the scene for sponsored races. The Katy Trail also offers an attractive route for those looking to exercise. Both the Dallas Zoo and Fort Worth Zoo are great places to go to see wildlife from all over the world. For even more thrills, Six Flags Over Texas is just down I–30 in Arlington, across the street from Six Flags’ Hurricane Harbor water park.