My Texas Alphabet: M for Metroplex

The idea for this alphabet post series comes from ' The Alphabet of My Emigration' by Dee Dorota L., member of The Polish Ladies Abroad Club, who has relocated to England.
I have also decided to join the project and write about My Texas Alphabet twice a week.

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The area we live in is called Metroplex or North Texas Metropolitan Area (officially established in 1972). It includes twelve Texas counties and numerous contiguous cities. The Metroplex covers approximately 9 square miles/ 24.000 km2 and it is the largest metropolitan complex in the South of the US - the economical and cultural center of North Texas. It is rather crowded - about seven million people live here.

Life in the Metroplex means frequent drives from one city to another. To a store, a ballpark, a theater a doctor's surgery or you name it place. Practically, it is as if all the cities of the complex were districts of one, very large metropolitan body.

Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington are the main cities of the Metroplex. The trio reminds me of the 'my' part of Poland - so-called Tricity (Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia), situated by the Baltic Sea. The Polish metropolitan complex is much smaller though, but it is also the cultural and economical center of Northern Poland.

Dallas

The very first single log cabin was built in the area by John Neely Bryan in 1841.

 

When the railroad was build there (1870s), Dallas started growing into a business and market center. Nowadays, the area of Dallas makes one fifth of the entire North Texas Metroplex.

Bridge over The Trinity River - Dallas

 Dallas architecture includes both older (19th century) and very modern constructions.

Former Dallas County Courthouse - built in 1892

Some buildings of the Dallas Skyline are over 700 feet/210 metres high

Our drive into Dallas Downtown 

 

Fort Worth

Established on the banks of the Trinity River by Brevet Major Ripley Arnold on June 16, 1849. Named after Gen. William Worth, Mexican War hero. At present, Fort Worth is the 16th largest US city (by population).

My favorite places in Fort Worth are the Botanic Gardens and the Old Stockyards.

I wrote more about Fort Worth in the following posts:

Fort Worth - Bass Hall & Sundance Square 

Fort Worth and Its Stockyards 

Fort Worth - Joe T. Garcia's

 

 Arlington

Situated on the Trinity River, between Dallas and Fort Worth. The first settlement, called Bird's Fort, (very pre-Arlington times) was set up in Caddo (Native American) tribal teritory. Later, in 1876, the town was established. Arlington is known for its sports and entartainment spots. Some of the most popular ones are Rangers (baseball) Ballpark, Dallas Cowboys (American football) Stadium and Six Flags Over Texas amusement ground.

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

Pictures:

• Trinity River, Dallas, Texas - painting by Raphael Tuck & Sons [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
• Downtown Dallas: By Adrian Valenzuela (Flickr: skyline - st. patrick's day) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Other 'M' entries by Polish Ladies Abroad:

Gabi: M jak Malmo
Jagoda / Włoska mowa ciała
Justyna / M jak Mama