Arlington and Its Future

I am an Arlington apologist. I admit it. I love this city and always will. This is due in large part to the amount of love, sweat, and tears my grandfather and others like him poured into this city over the last 60 years. Taking a small town nestled in between Dallas and Fort Worth and having the vision of making it something more than it was, something nationally known, is due in large part to the leadership of people like my grandfather and his contemporaries. I know his love for this city directly influences my feelings as well. And yes, I realize that Arlington has its problems. But nonetheless, I love this city... and I think it still is and can continue to be a great city, better than ever before. Let's settle a couple of matters though...

Arlington is not a suburb. Former Mayor Richard Greene said it best when he once told some critics that "Arlington is nobody's @#$% suburb." Every year, a ranking of the area suburbs comes out, and some ignoramus continues to place Arlington on the suburb list. Then they try to compare Arlington to highly overrated Frisco, or Flower Mound, or Mansfield. It's not fair to classify Arlington as a suburb and rank it according to suburban characteristics. In addition, nothing drives me more crazy than when someone who resides in Arlington tells others that they are from Dallas (We're not even in Dallas County!). Absolutely drives me crazy! I find the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end when someone dismisses Arlington as a suburb of Dallas, or as nothing special, or as a dying city. 350,000 reside in Arlington, the Rangers and Cowboys play here, we have great schools - please for the love of all that is good - tell people you are from Arlington, not Dallas or DFW or Fort Worth.

Does Arlington have a promising future? I believe so. I will write about it in upcoming posts. But for today, if you are an Arlington resident, be proud of where you are from, where you reside, and where we are headed as a city. We need to be cognizant of our city leaders' plans, and stop being defeatists by saying nothing will ever happen. Instead, let you voice be heard, pray for wise direction, and stay positive.