Arlington, TX Road Trips

The city was founded in 1875 and is named after Lee's Arlington House (of present-day Arlington County, Virginia). After the arrival of the railroad in 1876, Arlington grew as a cotton-ginning and farming center, and incorporated in 1884. The city could boast of water, electricity, natural gas, and telephone services by 1910, along with a public school system. By 1925 the population was estimated at 3,031, and it grew to over 4,000 before World War II. Large-scale industrialization began in 1954 with the arrival of a General Motors assembly plant. Automotive and aerospace development gave the city one of the nation's greatest population growth rates between 1950 and 1990. Arlington became one of the "boomburgs," the extremely fast-growing suburbs of the post-World War II era. U.S. Census Bureau population figures for the city tell the story: 7,692 (1950), 90,229 (1970), 261,721 (1990), and 365,438 (2010). DFW Airport opened in 1974, which also contributed to unparalleled growth in the region.

1 River Legacy Living Science Center. 2 International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, 621 Six Flags Dr, ☏ +1 817-385-8215, [email protected]. (updated Oct 2020) 3 Arlington Museum of Art, 201 W Main St, ☏ +1 817-275-4600, [email protected]. (updated Oct 2020) 4 National Medal of Honor Museum, ☏ +1 817-274-1861. 10AM-5PM, daily. $30, with Dustoff Virtual Reality $40. (updated Jun 2025)

1 AT&T Stadium, 1 AT&T Way, ☏ +1 817-892-4000. Colloquially known as "Jerry World", this stadium is home of the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys. Known as "America's team", they are a high profile team as well as one of the highest valued "brands" in sports. They offer several stadium tours, including one focusing on the stadium's collection of contemporary art. (updated Sep 2020) 2 Texas Rangers Baseball (Globe Life Field). Major League Baseball. The Rangers opened the new Globe Life Field, a retractable-roof ballpark that replaced Globe Life Park (since renamed Choctaw Stadium) across the street, in 2020. The old ballpark remains in use, but has been reconfigured as a football and soccer stadium; see below. 3 College Park Center. Home of the UT Arlington Mavericks (University of Texas at Arlington) teams in men's and women's basketball plus women's volleyball, and also houses athletic program offices. Its most notable use, however, is during the summer, when it hosts the Dallas Wings of the WNBA. 4 North Texas SC (Choctaw Stadium). Men's soccer team playing in the third-level MLS Next Pro as the reserve side for FC Dallas of Major League Soccer. NTSC has played at Choctaw Stadium since the Rangers left for their new park across the street. 5 Arlington Renegades, Choctaw Stadium, 1000 Ballpark Way. Football team playing during the spring in the second-level United Football League. Texas Live!, 1650 E Randol Mill Rd, ☏ +1 817-852-6688.

Kabob House, 2816 S Cooper St. Iranian cuisine with lunch buffet. Jambos BBQ at Division Street, 1724 W Division St, ☏ +1 817-409-8707. Cobbler, burnt ends, etc. Bobby Valentine's Sports Gallery Cafe, 4301 S. Bowen. Cafe Acapulco, 4001 W Green Oaks Blvd, Ste 121, ☏ +1 817-572-4471. Campo Verde, 2918 W Pioneer Pkwy. Catfish Sam's, 2735 W Division St, ☏ +1 817-275-9631. No Frills Grill. Three in the Metroplex.

Days Inn Arlington, 1901 West Pleasant Ridge, ☏ +1 817-557-5828. Hyatt Place Dallas/Arlington, 2380 East Rd, ☏ +1 817-649-7676. Free internet, free hot breakfast, on-site meeting rooms, fitness center and outdoor swimming pool. Courtyard Dallas Arlington by the Ballpark, 1500 Nolan Ryan Expressway, ☏ +1 817-277-2774. $129-159. Value Suites Extended Stay - Arlington, 2401 Brook Hollow Plaza Dr, ☏ +1 817-640-1188. Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites Arlington Texas South, 1721 Pleasant Pl, ☏ +1 817-784-8750. 1 Four Points by Sheraton Dallas, 2451 E. Randol Mill Rd (off of Hwy 360 and Randol Mill Rd near I-30 as well), ☏ +1 817-640-5454. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: noon. Smoke free. Complimentary breakfast, free Wi-Fi internet, 24-hour shuttle service to and from the DFW airport and nearby shopping and dining within 5 miles. Outdoor pool and spa. $89-179. 2 Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 1024 Brookhollow Plaza Dr, ☏ +1 817-640-8686. Spacious rooms and suites, meeting facilities and free high-speed internet. 3 Hilton Arlington, 2401 East Lamar Blvd, ☏ +1 817-640-3322. (updated Apr 2016) 4 Sheraton Arlington, 1500 Convention Center Dr, ☏ +1 817-261-8200, toll-free: +1-866-716-8134. Adjacent to the Arlington Convention Center. (updated Apr 2016)

All the major American carriers, and many international ones as well, provide scheduled passenger service into the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, located about 12 miles north of Arlington on Hwy. 360. There are two Amtrak routes which serve Dallas/Fort Worth, the Texas Eagle between San Antonio and Chicago, and the Heartland Flyer between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. The closest stations are in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Cleburne. The Trinity Railway Express (TRE) travels between Dallas and Fort Worth, skirting the northern Arlington city limits. The nearest station is CentrePort/DFW Airport. Well served by major highways, if you are coming by car, you will more than likely arrive via a major interstate highway. East/West Interstate 20 is directly south of town. North/South Interstate 35, which splits to an east (35E) and west (35W) highway near Waco, are within a few miles of the city. Turimex Internacional, a Mexican trans-border bus line with services to various points in Mexico, has a bus stop at 2105 Sherry St. in Arlington. Arlington has no Greyhound bus terminal.

Travel within Arlington essentially requires a car; the city does not operate a public transportation system. Arlington On-Demand is Arlington’s citywide rideshare public transportation service. For people staying at hotels within Arlington, there is a free shuttle bus, the Arlington Trolley, which connects major hotels with local food/drink and entertainment venues (Downtown Arlington, Six Flags theme park, the Texas Rangers stadium, etc.). The front desk of participating hotels can provide a pass to use the service. Uber offers rideshares in the city.

Arlington is a generally safe town, though the areas of Dalworthington Gardens, Pantego, and the areas north of IH-30 are much better developed and safer than other parts of the city. Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane Harbor water park, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium are in a highly modernized, pleasant location along IH-30; as you travel immediately south from there, the area is quite industrialized and deteriorated. One would be wise not to venture through East Arlington on foot at night. The 'danger zone' essentially is surrounded by IH-30 to the north, IH-20 to the south, Cooper Street/FM 157 to the west, and State Hwy. 360 to the east. Located on the north side of IH-20, Arlington's main shopping centers - The Parks at Arlington Mall and the Arlington Highlands mall - are very safe zones that are constantly bustling with people due to all the restaurants and commerce in this area. If you are visiting the campus of UT Arlington during the day you shouldn't run into any problems, though after hours (even before sundown) assault and robbery are not uncommon on the campus outskirts, particularly south and east of campus. As mentioned before, West Arlington (Dalworthington Gardens and Pantego) are by far the safest areas of the city, though they are mostly residential.