Arlington, Texas

What is it like to live in Arlington, TX?

Arlington is a great city with about 400,000 people from all walks of life. There is wealth and poverty though not too severe. Greatest ethnics are Caucasian, African-American and many Hispanics(though Caucasian). Vietnamese and other Southeast Asians are represented. I’m not sure of the number of nations represented now but 12 years ago there were 134 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Arlington has no downtown the tallest building in downtown was 2 stories and unoccupied. There is newly opened apartments in the downtown.

University of Texas in Arlington enrolls more than 48,000 on campus and distance classes. It is growing in reputation for Engineering and Computer Sciences. Its moving to Tier 1 for many of its colleges including Nursing.

Arlington is in Tarrant County. It is serviced by Tarrant County College and associate degree school. TCC has one growing campus in Arlington and several close enough in Tarrant County to be convenient.

A major drawback is the lack of public transportation either light rail or buses. Several attempts to create a public bus system have failed. Reasons I’ve come up with are: Low density for the 99 square miles of the city, no central area of importance (downtown), Texans are big on cars at an early age, there are only two concentrations of employment, General Motors and UTA and the voting public does not want to foot the bill for a hardly used bus system. Now a number of our streets have been converted to half auto half bike lane for the extremely few bike riders.

What are the best aspects of living in Arlington, TX as a young adult?

I was a magician at Six Flags Over TEXAS as a teenager and years later I actually directed commercials for them. The city offers so much for young people who have aspirations. With The Rangers and Cowboys and water parks and plenty of parks there’s never a shortage of something to do for a young adult. I’m returning to Arlington this fall to teach film at UTA, whose film school is as important a film school for industry professionals as any in the country. Those from Arlington have a special love for the city and understand how nourishing that environment is for young people. I smile every time I fly out of DFW to LA, because with the prevailing Southern wind, we nearly always bank over Arlington on the way out and I can see the whole city below, both remembering how small it used to be and despite the growth, how small it still is.

What are the best aspects of living in Arlington, TX as a young adult?

Because of the recent addition of AT&T stadium, the night life is getting much better. They're adding lofts to the downtown area and making it more fun to spend the night down there. You're smack dab in the middle of two large cities so the options of stuff to do is large. DFW airport is close by so travel is easy. They're trying to get mass transit more involved in Arlington which will make it easier to get to Dallas or Fort Worth. The people here are generally friendly. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting some sort of tasty restaurant. I'm sure there are more culturally rich cities but for the amount of things to do and see here I wouldn't move for just about anything.

Thoughts on Arlington?

It really depends on what you want. The traffic is getting a bit too heavy for what is already built here and there isn't any sort of exciting night life. The big upsides though are that it's lush with options for grocery, dining, shopping, etc. since it is so large. It's also relatively quiet for its size and easier to live in than true large cities. Tied with a reasonable cost of living and a couple excellent high schools (Plant yourself in a certain area of your choice if you plan to buy a home and prepare for family making in the future) it's honestly a good place start your life. You might find yourself looking towards somewhere like Mansfield if you do start to put a family together though.

Living in Arlington Texas | Full Vlog Tour of Arlington Texas