The main economic center of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area is Dallas City, which is part of the fourth largest metropolitan and the eighth largest city within the country. The city of Dallas is likewise the seat of Dallas County, with some of its parts extending to Kaufman, Rockwall, Collin and Denton counties. Midtown Dallas is presently going through building of new retail, high-rise apartments and restaurants; Central Dallas is anchored by Downtown, the center of urban revival and the hub of the city; East Dallas is home to Deep Ellum, a trendy arts area near Downtown, while Downtown's Southwest has recently gone through gentrification in neighborhoods, like the Bishop Arts District.
There are various attractions which visitors and residents of Dallas find both entertaining and educational are unique to the city. Sites such as the Six Flags Over Texas/Hurricane Harbor (the biggest water park in the Southwest which provides performances and almost one hundred rides, including the world's No. 1-rated wooden roller coaster), SpeedZone (provides racing, miniature golf, game room and private rooms/event areas), Dallas World Aquarium (features various exhibits and a South American Rain forest), Dallas Arboretum (66 acres of lush landscape, gardens, and groves), Dallas Heritage Village (13 acres of a living history museum), Dallas Zoo (provides hands-on feeding experiences with tropical birds), Fossil Rim (the driving safari offers visitors the chance to observe or hand-feed 60 species of free-roaming wild animals, like for instance rhinos, zebras and cheetahs within their natural habitats), and Tour eighteen Golf Course are only among the stuff to look forward to.
The arts and culture scene within Dallas is thriving these days, especially within the areas of urban arts, architectural designs and museums. New York Magazine even ranked the city as the best for art lovers. Some of the places to visit that are significant comprise: Shakespeare Festival of Dallas, Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza, Meadows Museum, Dallas Holocaust Museum, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Dallas CityArts Festival, the African American Museum at Fair Park, Bath House Cultural Center, as well as the Majestic Theater. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza examines the life, times, death and legacy of President John F. Kennedy with photos, artifacts and display. Shakespeare Festival of Dallas offers free summer festivals that take place each year. Meadows Museum has the largest and most comprehensive selection of Spanish art outside of Spain. Dallas Holocaust Museum is committed to teaching the lessons of the holocaust and honoring its victims through its huge collection of audiovisual materials, consisting of microfiche, videotapes, slides, and over 2,500 books. Dallas CityArts Festival incorporates all of the different arts into three-day event, consisting of cultural, performing, and visual and the culinary arts. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has year-round performances at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. The African American American Museum at Fair Park explores the African-American experience through displays and exhibits. Bath House Cultural Center houses a 116-seat black-box theater, three gallery spaces, the White Rock Lake Museum, and some multipurpose spaces. The Majestic Theater showcases presentations for dramatic plays, musical productions, national pageants, dance and concerts or a grand theatrical backdrop used for dinner on stage.
The city of Dallas largely relied on farming during the early years. Then again, technological developments because of the building of multiple rail lines gave way for the cotton trade to expand, and by 1900, the city became the biggest maker of cotton within the world. Information and Telecommunications also became a driving force within the local economy by the end of World War II. The city was immediately called the heart of "Silicon Prairie" due to the numerous telecommunications companies in the area mainly along the Telecom Corridor in Richardson. Among the companies located in the area include: Nortel Networks, Texas Instruments, Alcatel Lucent, AT&T, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Nokia, Rockwell, Verizon Communications, Cisco and Sprint.