State of the City: An Opportunity to Look Back and Look Ahead in Downtown Arlington

This Thursday March 11 at noon, the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the 15th Annual State of the City Address, an event that in past years packed the biggest ballrooms at the Arlington Convention Center. Anchored by remarks from the Mayor, the State of the City event brings together the diverse business community in Arlington to celebrate recent accomplishments and look ahead to the future. 

This year’s event will be free and held virtually instead of in-person, allowing for even more people to join Mayor Jeff Williams for his remarks. Word on the street has it that the Chamber and City have plans for a Texas-sized salute of Mayor Williams, who is completing the final year of his final term in office. 

Downtown Arlington is always proud to be one of the cornerstones of the City’s ongoing success story. Even during this past year, which was so incredibly challenging, we’ve been fortunate to have such a dedicated, quick-thinking and strong group of entrepreneurs who make up our Business Improvement District. Within the first week of the pandemic shut-down, for instance, our restaurateurs immediately jumped on board and helped us create “Downtown Delivers,” a responsive on-line restaurant platform featuring high-demand services such as curbside, take-out, patio dining, and delivery. Later, we held successful promotional campaigns including the “Downtown Arlington Drive-in Restaurant Rally” and “Congrads” in support of our business community.

Before the end of March last year, we also launched “Downtown Arlington Roots,” a six-episode podcast about the history of Downtown. Roots features key stakeholders from different business and cultural sectors of our district including Major League Baseball, arts, education, business, and innovation. We also partnered with the Levitt Pavilion throughout the Spring to cohost episodes of the “Levitt Living Room Series” from different Downtown businesses. 

In fact, in the 12 months, Downtown Arlington has successfully implemented over twenty-five new programs.

We’re looking ahead too, of course, and see big opportunities on the horizon even as we continue to remain vigilant in our COVID-19 safety practices. At this point, we all understand what it means to do the right thing, including practicing social distancing and wear masks to protect ourselves and others. Those who have been fully vaccinated know they have a lead-by-example role to play, too. So as you make plans for Spring Break, St. Patrick's Day and beyond, bring the family, grab your masks, and come on up to Downtown Arlington!