In the 1980s, Dallas was synonymous with oil, football, Stetson hats and, of course, the television show. But that's not the Dallas of today. Over the past decades, the city's economy has shifted from its traditional foundation of banking and oil to technology. Dallas is now a major center for high-tech products ranging from telephone switching equipment to video and computer games.

Dallas also serves as headquarters to department store chains Neiman-Marcus and J.C. Penney. It's fitting, since Dallasites love to shop: The city has more shopping centers per capita than any other city in America.

As the economy changed direction, downtown Dallas also experienced revitalization. It used to be that the corridor of glass and mirror-sheathed skyscrapers in the city center was deserted at the end of the business day. Most people lived in the suburbs, the most affluent of which are Plano and Richardson to the north.

Throughout its history, the Dallas-Forth Worth area developed outward. But as traffic congestion grows and urban living comes back into vogue, more home buyers are exploring the possibilities of living in Dallas proper.

Up-and-coming areas include a number of neighborhoods in East Dallas, such as Lakewood, Fair Park and Hollywood Heights. Downtown, Deep Ellum and State-Thomas are two areas where, during the last five years, thousands of apartments have been built for young professionals or older empty nesters who want to be in the thick of things.

Dallas' most exclusive communities, such as Highland Park, University Park and Preston Hollow, also experienced some changes in the 1990s. First, prices for mansions and gated estates shot up, increasing turnover as high prices and short closing times encouraged people to sell. (It is hard to gauge the increase in prices, because Texas is a nondisclosure state and they don't release sales figures.)

Second, the profile of those buying multimillion-dollar estates shifted. In the 1980s real-estate boom, most of the buyers had made their money in oil and gas, or real estate. Today, buyers come from a range of industries, from high-tech to finance, electronics and the hotel business.

Members of The Forbes Four Hundred Richest in America who live in Dallas reflect that broad spectrum. They include Broadcast.com co-founders Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner, developer and sometime politician H. Ross Perot and oilman Ray Lee Hunt.

In the Highland Park community, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry W. Jones, developer Trammell Crow and vice-presidential nominee Dick Cheney are all neighbors.

But even as homes in neighborhoods like Highland Park and Preston Hollow sell for $11 million, $17 million or even $22 million, Dallas remains surprisingly affordable in comparison to the rest of the country. In 2000, a four-bedroom home in Dallas averaged just $179,500, the same as the year before. Prices are kept low by plenty of new construction and no shortage of land to build on.

As in Houston, much of Dallas' population are newcomers whose companies relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Reasonable costs of living are one pleasant surprise the city holds in store for them; others are a wealth of museums, galleries and a critically acclaimed symphony orchestra. With the explosion of residential building downtown have also come new restaurants, bars and specialty shops.

Dallas is an easy city to navigate--provided you have your own set of wheels. The city's public transportation, DART, has a fairly reliable system of buses in place, but the light-rail system was only begun a few years ago and is not yet very extensive.

With its urban sprawl, car culture, and the inevitable smog that results from those two things, Dallas bears some resemblance to Los Angeles. But through all of its expansions and transformations, the Big D has retained a distinctive Texas character. Long after the cattle drives of the 1850s ended, the Dallas Cowboys are still local heroes.