Downtown: including the historic West End. Home to a burgeoning residential and nightlife district.
East Dallas: This is the large area north of I-30 and south of Mockingbird, extending from Central Expressway to White Rock Lake and beyond. For the most part, these are the "streetcar suburbs" built from the teens to '30s, with quaint bungalows and neighborhood strips that are teeming with restaurants, taverns, coffeehouses, wine bars, and vintage shops. A large oasis of laid-back in a sometimes uptight city, homey-but-hip East Dallas is a great place to mingle with locals. Contained within East Dallas are Lower Greenville and Deep Ellum.
Lake Highlands: a largely residential area bordering Garland on the north and Mesquite on the east.
North Dallas and Preston Hollow: including the areas along the south side of northern I-635 loop (LBJ) but extending up around the borders of the North Dallas Tollway and Addison. Made up of several upscale neighborhoods, north of the Park Cities and mostly south of LBJ.
Northwest Dallas: home to Koreatown and to Dallas Love Field, the city's second biggest airport.
Oak Cliff: a large low-income, mainly residential district southwest of downtown. The Bishop Arts district, centered on Bishop and Davis streets, is a bustling area of jazz clubs, cafes, and boutiques, drawing an eclectic crowd in which the creative class and the gay community are well-represented.
Oak Lawn: north of downtown, includes the gay district of Cedar Springs.
The Cedars: home to the Texas State Fairgrounds. Sometime also referred to as south Dallas.
Uptown: Immediately east of the Oak Lawn district a playground and shopping grounds for the beautiful people of the city. Extends from Woodall Rodgers on the south to Haskell on the north, and from Central Expressway on the east to the Katy Trail on the west. Immediately north of Uptown, and sometimes included as part of it, is the Knox Park neighborhood, which includes restaurants and a plethora of upscale home furnishings shops.
Highland Park and University Park: One of the wealthiest areas of the city, the "Park Cities" are mostly residential, but also offer world-class shopping opportunities at Highland Park Village (corner of Mockingbird and Preston) and elsewhere. North Park mall is on the northern edge of the Park Cities.
West Dallas: is largely a blighted area of poverty, but it does feature the one-of-a-kind Belmont Hotel, which allows good access to downtown and to the Oak Cliff area.

Some area attractions often thought of as Dallas attractions are actually located in the suburbs, notably the following:
Addison: almost surrounded by North Dallas, has a lot of restaurants and shopping packed into its 4 square miles.
Arlington: home to the new Cowboys Stadium, Six Flags Over Texas, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, and the ballpark of the Texas Rangers.
Irving: former home of the Dallas Cowboys' Stadium, it serves as the gateway to the massive DFW airport.
The suburbs of Carrollton and Lewisville: north along I-35E have less to offer in terms of attractions, but provide ample tourist accommodations, plenty of restaurants, and are reasonably close to any Dallas destination. The same might be said for Richardson and Plano, which lie north from Dallas along US-75.
Grapevine: has a nice historic main street area and numerous wineries.