Arlington’s Cool Factor

We’re not the hipsters – that’s Cambridge and Somerville.

We’re not the upper crust – that’s Lexington, Belmont and Winchester.

We’re not the college kids – that’s Allston and Brighton.

We’re not rough and tumble – that’s Southie (although even that’s changing).

Maybe, just maybe, we’re a little bit of all of these groups, which is actually pretty cool.

Slate.com recently posted an interesting article, What does “cool” even mean in 2013? Which led us to thinking about the Arlington Cool Factor (or ACF, if you want to be, well, you know).

Cool doesn’t try to be cool, cool just is. As the article states, “To be cool is to have cultural and social capital … Cool is an attitude that allows detached assessment, but one that prizes an air of knowingness over specific knowledge.

Arlington is certainly a ‘knowingness’ kind of place – what with so many residents working at area Biotechs, start-ups and universities. Not to mention Arlington schools which continue to post strong performances on MCAS achievement tests, and Arlington High School which recently came in at #25 of the Top 50 high schools in Massachusetts.

I’d also say we have a run on the market of cultural and social capital. The Capitol Theater, Regent Theater, Arlington Center for the Arts, Arlington Historical Society and Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum. Plus all of the great restaurants and shops, with new ones popping up every day; Menotomy Grill, Tryst, Flora and Retro Burger.

And there are plenty of people who continue to live and work in the town they grew up in – which speaks volumes to the tight-knit community that Arlington has been, and continues to be.

Are we slightly Bohemian? Blue collar? Intellectual? Outdoorsy? Probably all of these and more.