Denton, Texas and Denton County, TX in North Texas

Denton's Historic downtown square is centered around the former county courthouse which now serves as a museum. Bordered by Elm, Oak, Hickory and Locust Streets, the downtown square is surrounded by many shops and restaurants, most of which have been in business for many years. Considered by many to be a cultural epicenter of Denton, the area surrounding Fry Street is home to a group of shops, bars, restaurants, and other cultural venues. Every spring - usually the last three days of April - Denton hosts the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival, a city-sponsored event that brings over 200,000 people per year for live music, food, drink, crafts, and recreation at the Civic Center Park.

Dentonites take pride in being part of a unique and diverse creative community, and many consider this community to be the primary value of life in Denton that separates it from other Texas cities. In 2006, Denton was selected by Money magazine as one of the "Top 100 Best Places to Live in America." Many in the creative community see Denton as the antidote to the ballooning traffic and population concerns of larger cities. The combination of Denton's respected music and art cultures, and the large intellectual population sustained by the town's two universities, which together have a combined enrollment of over 40,000 students, make Denton one of the state's most dominant cultural bases.

Denton is large enough to host international conferences, seminars and international athletic competitions. But true to its "Main Street America" feel, Denton is also small enough for a weekend retreat to a historic bed & breakfast... a short stroll away from specialty shopping, art galleries, parks, dining and community events.

Denton is the proud home of two public Universities; Texas Woman's University and the University of North Texas, the 3rd largest university in the State of Texas, with a combined enrollment of approximently 40,000 students. UNT offers a stunning range of cultural activities that are open to the entire community. The Murchison Performing Arts Center features two venues - Winspear Hall and the Lyric Theater - that showcase student talent. Located near Interstate 35, the building hosts student performances from the College of Music. The outstanding acoustics in Winspear Hall are on par with the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas and the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth as premier music halls in North Texas. The university's nationally ranked College of Music offers more than 1,000 concerts per year, most of them free. Concerts range from intimate solo and chamber music concerts to large scale choral, orchestral, jazz and operatic productions.

Denton's location north of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex provides for easy access to both Dallas and Fort Worth. Both the DFW Airport in Arlington and Love Field in Dallas are in close proximity to Denton. The Denton County Transportation Authority plans to open a commuter rail line to run from Denton to Carrollton in 2010. This line will tie in to a planned Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail line also opening in 2010.

Two of the area's biggest lakes are located around Denton. Lake Ray Roberts is located just north of Denton and Lake Lewisville sits just to the southeast. Both lakes offer great fishing, camping, and boating opportunities. They are connected by the Greenbelt Corridor which is a 20 mile multi-use trail system that begins at the Ray Roberts Dam and ends at the headwaters of Lake Lewisville.