Live in Arlington
The City's redevelopment corridors on University Boulevard and Merrill Road, across the St. Johns from downtown, where three in four occupied homes were rented in 2020 and the population had grown 43% in a decade.
Arlington is the old east-bank settlement across the St. Johns from downtown: Alderman Realty developed 1,100 acres here from 1911 and ran a ferry from Beaver Street, Richard Norman made films with Black casts at the studio on Arlington Road through the 1920s, and Jacksonville University's first building, in 1950, and the Mathews Bridge, in 1953, turned it into a suburb. Residents use the name for the whole east side; this guide is narrower, the City's Arlington Community Redevelopment Area, which the City Council created in 2015 for the commercial corridors of University Boulevard, Merrill Road and Arlington Road. The 2020 census counted 9,337 residents on its 1,048 acres, 43% more than on about the same ground in 2010, and renters held 3,069 of the 4,194 occupied homes. Zillow's typical values for the two ZIP codes that hold its residents, 32211 and 32277, were $248,107 and $283,732 in August 2026, but both ZIPs are far larger than the corridors and neither is an Arlington price.
The oldest part of the east bank, drawn as a district around three roads
The City of Jacksonville's Arlington Community Redevelopment Area (OBJECTID 2 on the City's 'CRAs - September 30 2023' layer, ordinance 2015-738), about 1,048 acres, which the City drew around three commercial corridors. Traced against the Census Bureau's road file and the City's street layer, it follows University Boulevard North from the Arlington Expressway to Fort Caroline Road with the blocks on either side; reaches west of University Boulevard to the St. Johns River north of Jacksonville University and again between the campus and the mouth of the Arlington River, leaving the campus itself, about 230 m from the line, outside; takes in the blocks along Arlington Road between University Boulevard and Rogero Road, up to Commerce Street; and runs east along Merrill Road from University Boulevard to Interstate 295 at Dames Point Crossing Boulevard. 96% of its residents live north of the Arlington Expressway. The City's Arlington zoning overlay, in six subareas, covers exactly the same residents; the Old Arlington neighborhood action plan area holds 6,219 of them and runs well beyond. All of it is in Duval County, Duval County Public Schools and City Council District 1, and none of it is in a local historic district.
Arlington was a place before it was a suburb. Alderman Realty, which Frederick W. Bruce co-founded in 1911, developed 1,100 acres here and ran a ferry across the St. Johns from Beaver Street downtown. In 1916 a film studio went up on Arlington Road, and from 1920 Richard Norman made silent films with Black casts there; The Flying Ace of 1926 is the only one known to survive. Jacksonville University built beside the river in 1950, and the Mathews Bridge opened in 1953, which the City credits with twenty years of growth.
This Arlington is narrower than the one people mean. Residents use the name for most of the east side. This guide is the City's Arlington Community Redevelopment Area, which the City Council created on 24 November 2015 for three commercial corridors: University Boulevard North from the Arlington Expressway to Fort Caroline Road, Arlington Road from University Boulevard to Rogero Road, and Merrill Road east to Interstate 295. The line reaches the St. Johns on either side of Jacksonville University and touches the mouth of the Arlington River, but the campus itself is outside it. It is 1,048 acres, and the City's Arlington zoning overlay covers exactly the same residents.
Most of it is rented, and it is growing. The 2020 census counted 9,337 residents and 4,761 homes inside the line, against 6,527 residents on about the same ground in 2010, a rise of 43% that the sources read here do not explain. Renters held 3,069 of the 4,194 occupied homes; owners lived in 27%. The reference point is in ZIP code 32211, where Zillow's typical value was $248,107 in August 2026, up 0.8% on the year, and most residents are in 32277, at $283,732; both ZIPs are far larger than the corridors. On the City's 17.7412 mills for 2025, a homestead at the 32211 figure would owe about $3,673 a year, the same house held by a landlord about $4,402, and a homestead at Duval County's $335,000 median about $5,215. Save Our Homes resets on sale, so the seller's bill is not yours. The arithmetic is on the Jacksonville page.
The redevelopment area changes the plans, not the bill. It is tax increment financing under a 20-year plan, with the City Council as its board, and adds no rate to a parcel. The overlay sets its own land use rules in six subareas along the corridors; they were not read for this guide, so ask the City before planning to build or change a use. No community development district was found here, but read the seller's last tax bill anyway.
The water is at the edge, not under the houses. FEMA's effective map puts 3.3% of the area in the 1% annual chance flood zone, much of it river surface, and no resident on a block inside it; Strawberry Creek crosses about 0.6 km of the area. JaxReady puts 249 residents in evacuation zone C and the rest in none, which means less surge risk, not none; whether Hurricane Irma's record river in 2017 reached these streets, the sources read here do not say. Flood insurance is a separate policy. JTA's Route 19 stops at the reference point, and the First Coast Flyer Red Line, every 20 minutes on weekdays, stops on the Arlington Expressway about 0.93 km away in a straight line.
- Ask the City's planning department which Arlington overlay subarea the lot is in, and what it allows
- Run the address in Duval County Public Schools' locator: six elementary zones divide the area
- File for the homestead exemption with the property appraiser by 1 March of the year after you buy
- Read the seller's last tax bill for non-ad valorem assessments, and FEMA's panel if the lot is near the river
How Arlington got here
- 1911Frederick W. Bruce co-founds Alderman Realty, which develops 1,100 acres in Arlington and runs a ferry across the St. Johns from Beaver Street downtown, in the City's account.
- 1916Eagle Film Studios is built on Arlington Road, inside today's redevelopment area.
- 1920Richard Norman buys the studio and makes silent films with Black casts there through the 1920s; The Flying Ace (1926) is the only one known to survive.
- 1924Land given by Sprinkle and Bruce is put in the trust of the Arlington Community Club; it becomes Bruce Park, at Arlington and Rogero roads, in 1955.
- 1950Jacksonville University, which bought land in Arlington in 1947, completes its first building there and begins classes on the campus beside the corridor.
- 1953The Mathews Bridge opens, and with it two decades of growth in Arlington, in the City's account.
- 1968Consolidation makes the City of Jacksonville and Duval County one government, and Arlington part of the city.
- 2002The City acquires four of the five Norman Studios buildings; Wikipedia gives April and $260,000, the City's park page 19 December.
- 2014Norman Studios is listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 29 December, and becomes a National Historic Landmark on 31 October 2016.
- 2015The City Council approves ordinance 2015-738 on 24 November, making the University Boulevard, Merrill Road and Arlington Road corridors the Renew Arlington Community Redevelopment Area under a 20-year plan.
- 2020The census counts 9,337 residents and 4,761 homes inside the line, against 6,527 residents on about the same ground in 2010; 3,069 of the 4,194 occupied homes are rented.
- 2023The City holds the grand opening of the first phase of the restored Norman Studios.
- 2026JTA's 2 November service change keeps the First Coast Flyer at every 20 minutes on weekdays and sets Route 19 Arlington at every 30.
A ball park and a film studio inside the line, and the river beside it
Inside the line the City keeps Bruce Park at Arlington and Rogero roads, about 5.8 acres with a ball field, tennis and basketball courts and a splash pad, and Norman Studios, the 1916 studio the City bought in 2002 and began reopening in 2023. Just west of the line, the City's Arlington Boat Ramp puts a boat or a kayak on the St. Johns, and Tree Hill Nature Center, 50 acres of hilltop and wetland on Lone Star Road, is a short drive south.
What the map does not show: the summer rain. June to September brings more than half the year's rainfall at the airport, mostly in afternoon storms.
Elsewhere in Jacksonville, not Arlington
21 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 21 places, nearest first.
Method: distances are straight lines from OpenStreetMap's Arlington place node, on University Boulevard inside the line, multiplied by a road factor, with a tiered speed model for the drive: honest ranges, not routed times. Bus distances are to the nearest stop on each route.
Every gym within reach
There is no gym inside the line. The nearest City pools, at Terry Parker High and Warrington Park, open only in summer, and the nearest YMCA, Winston Family, is across the river downtown.
- Terry Parker High School pool: about 3.8 km, June to August
- Warrington Park pool: about 4.5 km, June to August
- Winston Family YMCA: about 8.4 km, two indoor pools
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Terry Parker High School pool open | The nearest of the City's outdoor pools, at 7301 Parker School Road. City pools open only in summer: in 2026 they opened on Memorial Day weekend and the regular season ran from 6 June to 2 August. | 6–9 min |
| Warrington Park pool open | The City's summer pool in Woodland Acres, south of the Arlington Expressway, at a park with tennis and pickleball courts and a community center. | 6–10 min |
| Winston Family YMCA open | The First Coast YMCA's branch at 221 Riverside Avenue, across the river downtown and the nearest of its branches: two year-round indoor pools, a gymnasium, an indoor track, cardio and strength equipment. Open 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, to 8 p.m. Friday, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at weekends. | 10–15 min |
| Bruce Park open | The free option, inside the redevelopment area at Arlington and Rogero roads: basketball and tennis courts, a ball field, a playground and a splash pad. | 4–6 min |
The free option is Bruce Park, inside the line: tennis and basketball courts, a ball field and a splash pad.
One high school for everyone, and six elementary zones
Every address is in Duval County Public Schools. For 2026-27 the reference point is zoned to Arlington Elementary, graded C, but only 1,107 residents are; Fort Caroline Elementary takes 4,157, and four other schools the rest. Arlington Middle takes 7,310 and Landmark Middle, graded A, the 2,027 at the east end of Merrill Road. Terry Parker High, graded C, takes everyone.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Arlington Elementary School | Duval County Public Schools | 1201 University Boulevard North, prekindergarten to grade 5: the 2026-27 elementary zone at the reference point, unchanged for 2027-28, but home to only 1,107 of the residents. The district's zones split the rest among Fort Caroline Elementary (4,157), Merrill Road Elementary (2,027), Arlington Heights Elementary (1,323), Lake Lucina Elementary (624) and Parkwood Heights Elementary (99). The state graded Arlington Elementary C for 2026 after B for 2025 and 2024; 194 pupils are enrolled against a capacity of 331. |
| Arlington Middle School | Duval County Public Schools | 8141 Lone Star Road, grades 6 to 8: the middle school zone for 7,310 residents in 2026-27, graded C for 2026, 2025 and 2024. The 2,027 residents at the eastern end of the Merrill Road corridor are zoned to Landmark Middle, 101 Kernan Boulevard North, graded A for 2026 and 2025. The assignment layer gives the reference point a magnet priority for Fort Caroline Middle School, graded B for 2026. |
| Terry Parker High School | Duval County Public Schools | 7301 Parker School Road, grades 9 to 12: the high school zone for every resident in 2026-27, and at the reference point for 2027-28. Graded C for 2026, 2025 and 2024; 1,196 enrolled against a capacity of 1,873. Confirm your own address, for the school year you mean, in the district's Neighborhood School Locator. |
Confirm your own address, for the right year, in the district's Neighborhood School Locator, which shows the 2026-27 and 2027-28 zones and any magnet priority; at the reference point it gives one for Fort Caroline Middle. Another school means the district's choice process.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- The property appraiser values every property as of 1 January, and to claim the homestead exemption you must own and live in the house on that date
- Highs near 18.6 °C and lows near 6.1 °C at Jacksonville International, with about six nights at or below freezing on the 1991 to 2020 normal
- NAVI, JTA's downtown autonomous shuttle, stops on 1 January 2027 when its software license expires
- Highs near 20.5 °C and lows near 7.8 °C, with two or three freezing nights on the normal
- About 73 mm of rain, one of the drier months
- 1 March is the deadline to file for the homestead exemption, and for portability, for the year after you buy
- Highs near 23.5 °C and about 84 mm of rain
- Highs near 26.6 °C and about 74 mm of rain, one of the drier months on the normal
- Highs near 29.9 °C, with about eight days reaching 32 °C (90 °F)
- About 87 mm of rain before the wet season
- The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November
- The wet season begins: about 193 mm of rain, mostly in afternoon storms, and about 16 days reaching 32 °C
- The pool at Terry Parker High runs its regular summer season; in 2026 that was 6 June to 2 August
- Highs near 33.3 °C and lows near 22.9 °C, with about 24 days reaching 32 °C
- About 172 mm of rain, much of it in afternoon thunderstorms
- The property appraiser mails the TRIM notice of proposed taxes in mid to late August; a petition to the Value Adjustment Board is due 25 days after the mailing, 8 September in 2026
- Highs near 32.7 °C and about 175 mm of rain
- The hurricane season peaks around 10 September, with most activity from mid-August to mid-October
- About 192 mm of rain, as wet as June
- Local nor'easters in September and October 2025 brought tidal flooding along the coast, the Intracoastal Waterway and the St. Johns basin, the river on the corridor's western edge
- Highs near 27.2 °C and about 102 mm of rain as the wet season ends
- JTA moves to a reduced weekday schedule on 2 November 2026: the First Coast Flyer stays at every 20 minutes and Route 19 runs every 30
- Hurricane season ends on 30 November; highs near 22.9 °C and about 51 mm of rain, the driest month
- Highs near 19.7 °C and lows near 7.7 °C, with three or four freezing nights
- About 71 mm of rain
Every photograph in this guide's library is above
This library holds 2 photographs and the page has already printed all of them, each once. The credits are in the footer.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images geotagged in or near Arlington, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. Inline photos elsewhere on the page may still come from the site's shared Jacksonville library.