• Arlington is the third-largest city in North Texas.

• Arlington is ideally located in the center of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, less than 17 miles from Downtown Dallas, 10 miles from Downtown Fort Worth, and just 8 miles from DFW International Airport, the third-busiest airport in the world.

• Arlington has a thriving atmosphere and a welcoming environment for business relocations and expansions of all types.

• Arlington has an educated population! From Arlington, an employer can tap the labor market of the entire Metroplex.

• Arlington was founded in 1875 and Incorporated in 1884

• Population:  362,393 (as of 3/31/2006)

• Median Age: 30.9 years old 

• Median Household Income  $48,617

• Median Single-Family Housing Value  $96,614

• Land Area:  99.5 square miles

• Property Tax Rate:  .6480 per $100 valuation

• Parkland:
  Park acres: 4,651
  Recreation Centers: 5      
  Senior Centers: 2
  Tennis Courts: 49
  Swimming Pools: 7
  Miles of Park Trail: 44
  Basketball Courts: 21
  Golf Courses: 4
  Softball Complexes: 2 

• Arlington is served by four Independent School Districts:
  Arlington ISD
  Kennedale ISD
  Mansfield ISD
  Grand Prairie ISD

• Higher Learning Institutions
  University of Texas at Arlington
  Tarrant County College Southeast Campus

• Arlington has seven public libraries

• Downtown Arlington is home to 3,568 residents, or about 1 percent of the city’s 356,861 total population, according to the 2000 Census.
  
  
• Household size is 2.2 people per household, which is below average compared to the rest of the City.
  
  
• Fewer than 40 percent of households consist of families, compared to 68 percent in the rest of the City.
  
  
• Downtown area residents are very diverse, 42 percent of those residents describe themselves as Caucasian.
  
  
• Hispanics make up nearly 30 percent of residents, followed by Asians who make up 25 percent, and African Americans who make up 13 percent.

Housing

• Downtown residents are overwhelmingly renters. Of the 1,434 households in the area, more than 95 percent rent, compared with 45 percent for the City as a whole.
  
  
• The population density in the area is 4.8 people per acre, lower than the density of 5.28 people per acre for the rest of the City.
  
  
• Population density is highest in the University District and at the edges of the study area, where it meets established neighborhoods. Population density is lowest in the downtown core.

University of Texas at Arlington

• In 1999, UTA had 18,000 students and forecast that it would reach 28,000 students in 2020. The University is growing even faster than it anticipated and in Fall 2003 had 24,979 students.

Transportation

• In the City of Arlington, the great majority of commuters use their cars to get to work. About 86 percent of workers drive alone to work and 12 percent carpool. Fewer than 2 percent walk to work and less than 1 percent commute by bicycle.

Traffic Counts

• Border and Abram streets carry the most volume of traffic going east and west, while Cooper and Collins streets carry the most volume of traffic going north and south. The couplet of Mesquite and Center carry around 16,000 vehicles. Division carries between 15,500 and 19,000 vehicles.

• Downtown Arlington hosts a large number of software and computer-related firms, located in various buildings.  A significant volume of fiber infrastructure is located in the heart of the downtown, providing a needed strong connection to the technology-oriented businesses that locate in the area.  Being adjacent to the University’s strong technology and science schools also helps support our growing creative class in the Downtown/University District.
  
  
• JR Gilligan’s has been a favorite college hangout in Downtown Arlington for more than a couple generations.  The walls in this local establishment tell the stories with photos of customers through the years……a scene for live music year round. 
  
  
• Downtown Arlington was laid out on an historic street grid, with an East, West, South and Front Street flanking the  railroad tracks.  The downtown never had a town square like so many Texas towns; it was linear with Main and Front Streets housing the early town traders and railroad industry. 
  
  
• Three historic churches were founded in Downtown Arlington, and today have very strong congregations that draw thousands of people on weeknights, and Sundays, to the area.
  
  
• Downtown Arlington is the government center for the area, housing most of the City administration and operations staff.  Tarrant County is building a new Tarrant County Sub-Courthouse on Abram Street. 
  
  
• Downtown's Arlington Technology Incubator (ATI), a partnership between The University of Texas at Arlington and the Chamber of Commerce, was financed by a $2 million gift/grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce. ATI hosts client companies primarily based on UT Arlington technologies and is an integral part of the Chamber's "Innovation Arlington" Initiative designed to stimulate both UT Arlington and the economy of the city and region. Plans are now underway to grow the ATI site into a "Business Accelerator" which will aid entrepreneurial efforts in the area.