Grand Prairie is located in mid-cities region of Texas and is part of three counties: Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant. It is currently the 15th largest city in Texas with a population of 175,396.
The city of Grand Prairie is conveniently located in between the larger cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. Fort Worth City is situated 15 miles towards the west, whereas Dallas is only 12 miles east of downtown. Just five minutes north of Grand Prairie, is the DFW International Airport. The Interstate 30, Interstate 20, Spur 303, State Highway 360 and Loop 12 are easily accessible from Grand Prairie City, allowing people access to almost anywhere within Texas State. Currently being constructed is a ten mile extension of State Highway 161 to Interstate 20. Its projected completion date is in 2012. When finished, it will connect with east-west freeways between the city of Dallas and Fort Worth City, such as the State Highway 183, Interstate 20, and Interstate 30.
There are 58 parks in the city of Grand Prairie totaling an area of around 5,000 acres. Within these parks are five baseball and softball complexes, a senior centre, 32 tennis courts, five public swimming pools, 18 soccer fields, two beaches on Joe Pool Lake and a campground. Grand Prairie City has several competitive athletic programs.
1/4 sales tax which Grand Prairie City has established has been put towards park improvements. With this $125 million, 20-year plan Grand Prairie aims to enhance each and every park while continuing to add more and expand park land.
While Grand Prairie City does offer some private golf courses and a county club the city of grand Prairie also has two remarkable and affordable public golf courses. Tangle Ridge is renowned for its Hill County atmosphere and bentgrass greens. The biggest practice putting green within Texas could be found at Prairie lakes, that has one of the best golf values in the region.
The top companies in the city, as of the year 2008, are: Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Grand Prairie Independent School District, Poly-America, Inc., Bell Helicopter-Textron, City of Grand Prairie, Vought Aircraft Industries and Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie.
The famous amusement park Six Flags runs its corporate office within the city of grand Prairie. The headquarters for American Eurocopter is also situated within Grand Prairie City.
American Airlines decided to relocate from the city of New York to the Dallas/Fort Worth area during the year 1978. They moved their headquarters into two leased office buildings within Grand Prairie City. The move to the city of Fort Worth was completed when the airline left its Grand Prairie facility on January 17, 1983.