How is Arlington Texas? (Houston, Dallas: income, jobs, medical)

[ministers]

Hi can someone tell me about Arlington, Texas. How is the economy? Is it family friendly? What are the good areas to live in? Is it conservative? How is life overall in Arlington? Thank you for your responses, and I look forward to hearing from you all.

[char65]

Hi:

I can respond to some degree to your question. My husband and I currently live in Arlington and have been here for about four years. It is a conservative area (at least to our slightly non-conservative taste.) The people seem to be friendly and the economy is decent (employment (depending on your field and considering that you are fairly close to Dallas and Fort Worth), cost of living, housing, etc.) I think the city is family friendly. However, we don't have kids, so I can't say for sure. For the most part, it's a pretty safe generic city, with little local favor (Starbucks on every corner, very little originality.) As for areas to live in, there are nice neighborhood throughout the city, depending on what you are looking for (price range, specific schools depending on age of children, etc.) There are areas that aren't as nice, but compare to some of the places I've seen in bigger cities, those areas are Shangri-La. I've found the city fairly harmless, and a little dull during my time here, but can't really say anything negative about it since if I need excitement, I can drive to Dallas or Fort Worth which aren't too far.

One additional note: I'm not sure if you are from Texas, but Arlington is very car-centric. There is no public transportation, nor any encouragement to walk (few sidewalks or bike trails and unbelievably hot weather with high humidity.)

[ministers]

Originally Posted by char65

Hi:

I can respond to some degree to your question. My husband and I currently live in Arlington and have been here for about four years. It is a conservative area (at least to our slightly non-conservative taste.) The people seem to be friendly and the economy is decent (employment (depending on your field and considering that you are fairly close to Dallas and Fort Worth), cost of living, housing, etc.) I think the city is family friendly. However, we don't have kids, so I can't say for sure. For the most part, it's a pretty safe generic city, with little local favor (Starbucks on every corner, very little originality.) As for areas to live in, there are nice neighborhood throughout the city, depending on what you are looking for (price range, specific schools depending on age of children, etc.) There are areas that aren't as nice, but compare to some of the places I've seen in bigger cities, those areas are Shangri-La. I've found the city fairly harmless, and a little dull during my time here, but can't really say anything negative about it since if I need excitement, I can drive to Dallas or Fort Worth which aren't too far.

One additional note: I'm not sure if you are from Texas, but Arlington is very car-centric. There is no public transportation, nor any encouragement to walk (few sidewalks or bike trails and unbelievably hot weather with high humidity.)

Thank you so much I was wondering why no one responded yet, I currently live in Wisconsin. How far is Arlington from Dallas and Fort Worth? What is there to do for fun in Arlington?

[char65]

You're welcomed.

Arlington is about 20 minutes from Fort Worth and about 40 minutes from Dallas. Determined by where you are heading, it may be a little farther. As for fun, it depends on your definition of fun. For kids, there is Six Flags (a big amusement park) as well as a large waterpark (not sure of the name.) There are also tons of parks. If you are a sports fan, there is the Ranger's Ballpark (Dallas baseball team is the Texas Rangers.) They are also in process of building the Dallas Cowboys' football stadium here in Arlington. If you are looking for a nightlife, let me forewarn you that there isn't a big one here. There are a few bars, a couple with live music, at least one local theater house, a few coffee houses offering poetry night, and a comedy club. If your idea of fun includes continuing to develop your mind, there is a sizable university here.

Really, you can find whatever you looking for to entertain yourself, depending on how far you are willing to drive. Is it a safe assumption that you are considering moving to this area?

[txstate]

Arlington is a tourist town but it is huge. The most diverse city in Texas besides Houston in my opinion. Lastly it is the home of the Cowboys. Most of the jobs are near DFW airport on and off of 360. Overall a good place for young couples or singles, depending on your style.

[Philip T]

Originally Posted by ministers

Thank you so much I was wondering why no one responded yet, I currently live in Wisconsin. How far is Arlington from Dallas and Fort Worth? What is there to do for fun in Arlington?

Yeah, sort of hear you on the why not much response, yet . . .

I guess I should have a lot to say, as I lived in and out of there for some years . . . overall, it is not a bad place . . . but from my point of view -- a little phoney and corporate chumps maybe?

Let me give an example. No public transportation. City will absolutely NOT spend money on it . . . because . . . they figure it would attract -- egad -- poor folks to town. BUT right in the center of downtown the Big Baptist Church runs a homeless shelter that attracts hundreds who bum up and down the main street. Meanwhile the knotheads of the town voted a tax upon themselves for million$ to build a huge stadium for a billionaire who owns the Dallas Cowboys. So they seized and shoved hundreds of small businesses and homes under the bulldozer. And by-in-large the locals are proud to do so. How stupid is that?

I did my BS and MS at the local (UT Arlington) University and had business located there, also for some years. I guess the best I can say for Arlington is it located in between Dallas and Fort Worth?

A lot of folks like the Mall on the South side. We take the kids to ride the big merry-go-round. But Mrs. Phil says no way on living or raising the kids there. And she is a Social Worker type -- also MS from Arlington.

She also adds (looking over my shoulder) if you like Corporate -- it has everything Corporate one could want. She also adds in Social Worker fashion that the community was designed to flow East-West, but expanded North-South, so traffic is very bad North and South.

(again more Social Worker) Since many people are not from the area, but rather "landing" like you, and work in Dallas or Fort Worth, there seems to be little bonding to the area, so there is not a sense of community we have seen in the Midwest.

So what part of Wisconsin are you coming from? That might make a difference. If Milwaukee, it might seem an improvement. Else wise, maybe not.

[Lakewooder]

I don't think it would be good for young couples or especially young singles. Maybe for some families...

[Premont]

There's no real downtown in Arlington, unlike Dallas and Fort Worth. The downtown area of Arlington is mainly the University of Texas at Arlington.

Arlington's more connected to Fort Worth than Dallas. When I lived in Arlington, I also spent a lot of time in Fort Worth as well as the HEB area. I found it a nice place to live, but it does get hit with the boring label.

[somanyrenegades]

That's a big thing about the city of Arlington. It's government won't develop any type of public transportation and as char65 said, it's not a very walking-friendly place. Though I do think we are getting closer to mass transit as for the past few years my dad (one of the top transportation engineers for the council of governments for the DFW area) has tried tiredlessly to get some sort of mass transit in place. Other than the government thinking it will attract "poor" people, another problem is the streets weren't really made for bus stops and the such.

I live just south of 20 by lake Arlington and the drive to both downtowns is about 20 minutes to Fort Worth and 35 minutes to Dallas (Fort Worth has the better downtown in my opinion [more culture]).

On a side note, we have a ton of family in the Appleton area, and I'd take that area over Arlington any day.

[loves2read]

Arlington is a town that is difficult for low income families to live in--rent is high and there is no public transportation forcing all people to use autos--most jobs are in retail/entertainment and medical--lot of those are medium to low paying
its road infrastructure is old and effort to improve has not been really that successful because it is piecemeal and too little--flooding happens when there is heavy rain and cars get caught and float off sometimes...

arlington for decades has been a wanna-be ftw and dallas but it does not have the economy to support it
the per capita income has been dropping for the past decade as has the educational level of residents and the avg home price

the ISD is not that great--high % of low income, ethnic students (many illegals) and the district has not come to gripes with how to handle these students--my daughter taught in elementary isd in ARL for 2 yrs after college and while she loved it and it did a decent job with its students others are not doing so well...many parents choose to put their children in church schools or home school to avoid the problem...
Arlington has significant taxes due to the deal it has done with Jerry Jones and the Cowboys to have the new stadium built there--it is supposed to bring in revenue but most of it will be gone once the stadium is built because of the concessions the city may--tax abatments for several years...the jobs working there wil be low-paying food workers/parking attendants--and the traffic is costing an arm and a leg to improve and will just be horrible--the location is geared to cause problems even after I30 and 157 have some work done
I don't live in arlington but have lived north of it for 25+ years... it is a city with its head in the sand...