# Where do you think Arlington is? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2020, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236 "2020-03-25T08:40:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/41 "2020-03-25T23:56:57Z")
Arlington is about a third of the way from Blair NE to Fremont NE along US 30 ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/42 "2020-03-26T00:15:47Z")
The Arlington school district begins on the other side of my back yard, and my post office serves the nebulous “Arlington” part of the adjoining town (so I sometimes get mail addressed to me in “Arlington”), and several people I know say they live in Arlington, and… …“Arlington,” to me, means Virginia. Clearly. (Though the Rangers made me say Texas immediately afterwards.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/43 "2020-03-26T01:21:16Z")
Virginia for me. I visited the cemetery when I visited Washington DC some years ago, so that’s what comes to mind first. If I had to make a second choice, it would be Arlington Heights, Illinois. I’ve watched and wagered on horse races from Arlington Park racetrack there in the past. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/44 "2020-03-26T01:32:35Z")
Vermont. I have no idea why. I’ve never been to Arlington, Vermont. I don’t know anyone in Arlington, Vermont. Arlington, Vermont is not a large town, much less a real city. But the answer is Arlington, Vermont. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/45 "2020-03-26T01:38:39Z")
My immediate thought: “[Arlington, New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington,_New_York) but I bet they mean the one in Virginia”. That is, I thought of them both at about the same time. Voted “other”. There seem to be Arlingtons all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/46 "2020-03-26T02:00:46Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > My immediate thought: “[Arlington, New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington,_New_York) but I bet they mean the one in Virginia”. That is, I thought of them both at about the same time. > > Voted “other”. > > There seem to be Arlingtons all over the place. It’s like Springfield. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/47 "2020-03-26T02:04:50Z")
OK. I’ve grown up and lived in Chicago for most my life (about 3/4). I’ve never ever heard “Arlington” to refer to “Arlington Heights.” How are there four votes (at the moment) for that? I voted Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/48 "2020-03-26T03:02:55Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I think of Arlington, Virginia first because of the famous cemetery there This. When you say “Arlington,” the only association that springs to my mind is the cemetery. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/49 "2020-03-26T03:29:11Z")
It would depend on who says it. If it’s someone up here in New England, I think about the Arlington in Massachusetts. If I’m down in Texas, it’s the Arlington in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/50 "2020-03-26T03:31:24Z")
Massachusetts for me. As with the others, purely because it’s nearby and so gets mentioned in weather forecasts by the Boston TV stations a lot. Actually… I’ve lived about 20 miles from Arlington for more than three decades, driven THOUGH it any number of times on my way to Boston or elsewhere…and I don’t think I’ve ever set foot on the ground within the town. Never heard of any site worth coming from out of town to see. Or heard of any historical happening there, which is kind of unusual for a close-in suburb of Boston. (Waiting for the other Arlington = Massachusetts posters to school me on all the fantastic stuff that happened there…) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/51 "2020-03-26T04:36:50Z")
DFW in Texas. Arlington is the halfway point between Dallas and Ft. Worth. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/52 "2020-03-26T05:09:07Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > DFW in Texas. Arlington is the halfway point between Dallas and Ft. Worth. When I started this thread, I could have sworn that DFW airport was in Arlington. It’s not. I actually lived in Dallas for a couple of years, but all those cities just ran together for me and I could never tell one from the other. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/53 "2020-03-26T06:53:33Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > OK. I’ve grown up and lived in Chicago for most my life (about 3/4). I’ve never ever heard “Arlington” to refer to “Arlington Heights.” How are there four votes (at the moment) for that? > > I voted Virginia. Well, when I hear the word “Arlington” I think of the racetrack. And I know that it is in the town of Arlington Heights, so that’s what I think of, and that’s what I voted for. Of course I don’t expect most people in the world to follow the same chain of reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/54 "2020-03-26T11:28:07Z")
Even when I saw the poll and saw Arlington Heights I _still_ thought of Arlington VA because I went to Google Maps to see where in Arlington County Arlington _per se_ is, and the location where business names seem to call themselves “Arlington” with no other description such as “Rosslyn” is only a few blocks from a neighborhood that Google Maps calls [Arlington Heights](https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8783755,-77.102193,14.24z). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/55 "2020-03-26T11:41:26Z")
Arlington, Massachusetts, of course. Where a friend of mine from bacxk in grammar school (in NJ) lives Where we almost bought a house Where we did buy a terrible piece of furniture Where some friends of ours rented a house (that we helped them move into) Which has a pretty decent downtown, on a railroad-bed bike trail Which still has a downtown movie theater. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/56 "2020-03-26T19:54:09Z")
Arlington, Washington. Almost moved up there about 25 years ago when I worked at the Boeing Everett plant. Now it’s home to a distillery that sponsors my blog. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/57 "2020-03-26T19:58:01Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Arlington Virginia is what pops in my mind but I guess it is in fact a county, damn! Yeah, my immediate default answer to the question in the subject line, “Where do you think Arlington is?”, is “in Virginia, where Arlington National Cemetery is, with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier”. I clicked on the poll selection for “Virginia” before reading the text of the OP, which said “If I mention _the city name_ ‘Arlington’ to you, where do you think of first?”. At which point I was like, “Aw dang, is this a trick question and Arlington National Cemetery is the name of just the cemetery, and not the town it’s located in?” In which case the next one I thought of was Arlington, TX, where I remembered there is or used to be “The Ballpark at Arlington” where the Texas Rangers played baseball, and which has probably been replaced or renamed with a corporate named park by now. (I follow NL baseball, for the most part, and don’t know all the current ballpark names in the American League.) Would not be able to come up with any other location named “Arlington”. Was that the point of the OP? To see how many people assumed Arlington National Cemetery was in a place called Arlington, Virginia? (Which it is, as an “unincorporated county”, whatever that means.) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/58 "2020-03-26T20:06:51Z")
Texas. Arlington, Virginia is a county. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/59 "2020-03-26T20:51:01Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Yeah, my immediate default answer to the question in the subject line, “Where do you think Arlington is?”, is “in Virginia, where Arlington National Cemetery is, with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier”. > > I clicked on the poll selection for “Virginia” before reading the text of the OP, which said “If I mention _the city name_ ‘Arlington’ to you, where do you think of first?”. At which point I was like, “Aw dang, is this a trick question and Arlington National Cemetery is the name of just the cemetery, and not the town it’s located in?” > > In which case the next one I thought of was Arlington, TX, where I remembered there is or used to be “The Ballpark at Arlington” where the Texas Rangers played baseball, and which has probably been replaced or renamed with a corporate named park by now. (I follow NL baseball, for the most part, and don’t know all the current ballpark names in the American League.) > > Would not be able to come up with any other location named “Arlington”. > > Was that the point of the OP? To see how many people assumed Arlington National Cemetery was in a place called Arlington, Virginia? (Which it is, as an “unincorporated county”, whatever that means.) I shouldn’t have put city name in my OP, wasn’t trying to be tricky ---
**Author:** ![Deltree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Deltree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deltree)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236/60 "2020-03-26T23:04:33Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I think of Arlington, Virginia first because of the famous cemetery there, which I’ve visited several times. > > But of course there’s Arlington, Texas, the site of a famous factory explosion. The 75th anniversary was pretty recent. > > I don’t know of any others offhand, though. You have the wrong Texas explosion. [Arlington Tx. explosion, April 17, 2013](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Fertilizer_Company_explosion). Texas explosion not quite 75 years ago, [Texas City, Tx., April 16, 1947](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_disaster), 300 miles away from Arlington. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-think-arlington-is/850236.md?page=4)