tell me about Arlington tx... please. (Dallas, Grand Prairie: apartment, crime, buying a house)

[sweetlilmama]

does anyone know anything about Arlington? im 25 as i mentioned in another post single and looking to move to tx. how far is arlington from south dallas? is there shopping and malls around? is it a safe place to live? any feedback would be great

[portyhead24]

Originally Posted by sweetlilmama

does anyone know anything about Arlington? im 25 as i mentioned in another post single and looking to move to tx. how far is arlington from south dallas? is there shopping and malls around? is it a safe place to live? any feedback would be great

I've lived in Arlington now for a lil over 5 years near the University. Arlington to me is a decent place. I haven't found the crime to not be too bad i.e. I've never really had any run-ins but certain parts are worse than others. It is definitely a large overcrowded suburban setting in my opinion and without public transportation. There are actually alot of really cool independent restaurants such as vietnamese, indian and thai food (there is a large asian community.) The Parks Mall is a good mall, very large and lots of shopping to do. If you're looking for high end shopping though you'll have to trek to Dallas or Southlake. Getting around can be kind of an annoyance (traffic is bad). Cooper and Collins can be hell sometimes. If you're looking for a fast paced suburban type city Arlington is good (also it's situated between Ft. Worth and Dallas). If you're looking for urbanity though this is not the place. Arlington is kinda stuck in between being a suburb and big city, like alot of the outerlying cities of LA.

[sweetlilmama]

ok , thanks alot that info really helps me alot. so Arlington doesnt have any public trans, interesting i have a car but i like to have pt as an option if i need it.

[portyhead24]

Dallas and some of its suburbs are the only places where public transportation can be an option, although the public transit is underdeveloped compared to most big cities. Not quite as good as Atlanta's but better than Phoenix for example. Dallas is working hard on expanding it's light rail and increasing its density. I believe Arlington has public transit in the works but its really funny, I remember reading in an Almanac from the early 90's about Arlington having public transit in the works. Here it is 2008 and still nothing. Some people of the city still have a stigma about it being transport for the poor and would rather raise taxes for a new stadium as opposed to improving the inevitable urbanity of a growing city of over 300,000 (Arlington is the largest city in the U.S. without public transportation). Where do you plan on working? I might be able to give you some other options if Arlington isn't what you're looking for.

[Grainraiser]

I believe Arlington is the largest city in the United states that does not have public transit. There is the Parks Mall in Arlington that offers plenty of shopping. Are you buying a house or looking for and apartment. I where buying a house in that part of Dallas and wanted to be close to South Dallas I would go with Grand Prairie. Somewhere near Lake Joe Pool.

[mustange666]

I lived in Arlington for six years and it sucked. People are very rude. It's becoming as bad as Dallas with crime . I was at Walmart and two guys pulled guns on eachother, and there was another time that somebody shot at the store that I was working at. Accross from where I lived someone put gang signs on a church and I saw some at parks. I lived on the South side so it wasn't in a bad neihborhood. Living in Arlington was expensive, that's if you didn't want to live in a crappy government apartment. If you have a disabled kid or a child that is autistic, there are no learning centers that want to help. The only nice thing about Arlington is the Parks Mall, Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor,Rangers, and the Cowgirls. Oops I mean Cowboys. I would live more in the country than in the city if you don't want to put up with crime and high prices. I live in the country now and I love it, will never go back to the city.