Where's Arlen?

Well I don't know exactly but I have an idea. You see, Kahn let the cat out of the bag. While the Simpsons sometimes tease us as to the whereabouts of Springfield we don't even have a rough idea. However, we know that Arlen is located somewhere around approximately 180 miles from Houston. How did I deduce this? Well Kahn mentioned that Houston was a three-hour drive. Now while unaware of the general speed limit on the xway in Texas I'll estimate that Kahn can achieve 60 mph including a small slowdown in traffic. (Kahn would only drive 5 miles over the limit) Now with Houston the center we draw a circle around it 180 miles (radius?) around. (it's been awhile for geometry class) And voila! One of those points has to be Arlen, Texas. Maybe I'll take the drive myself until I see Hank, Bill, Dale and Boomhower (sp?) standing in the alley. Maybe they'll even offer this yankee a beer. :^)

arch stanton

arch wrote:> Now with Houston the center we draw a circle around it 180 miles

And arch is replying: I forget what the edge of a circle is called. Perimeter is for square objects I believe. Circumference? Like Kahn would say: "you silly stupid hillbilly. Don't know math. Kahn Junior do differentials in her head. HAH!" Anyway I am aware that the radius is the point from the center to the edge. Half the diameter. Err, at least that's what Luanne told me.

arch stanton

The "edge" of a circle is its circumference. It is also its perimeter. The term "perimeter" is applicable to any geometric shape - squares, circles, irregular blobs and polygons, etc. And I used to be able to do differential equations in my head. :-) (I'm about a year out of practice.)

Arlen is almost definitely based on a number of towns near Austin, Texas (which incidentally is just about three hours from Houston, and Dallas). Taylor is a sort of Czechoslovakian colony several miles northeast of Austin, whose Walmart looks very much like Arlen's Megalomart. (So does Bastrop's Walmart, for that matter.) Strickland Propane bears a strong resemblance to several small businesses in towns such as Elgin (my hometown), Bastrop, and Coupland (a little population-200 town halfway between Elgin and Taylor), and no doubt many other places. (Manor, Hutto, Thrall, Thorndale, Butler, McDade, Granger... ah, memories...)

Probably Judge's biggest influence is from south Austin, esp. residential sections, some of which resemble the area around Hank's house, as well as Arlen's "seedy" neighborhood. The only big difference is that Arlen is not intended to be a city like Austin, with skyscrapers and the like. The Megalomart is probably as urban as Arlen gets, which causes to me to liken it to a typical obscure town in the vicinity of Austin. Austin and San Marcos are both way too big. Elgin and Bastrop are close, but too small. Taylor seems to be about the right size. So does Round Rock.

Did I put everyone to sleep yet?

No not me. I have a friend who recently moved form the Boston area to a town called Lufkin. Stark contrast. I wonder how far from Houston that town is?

arch stanton

It's a bit closer to Houston than Austin is. Lufkin is in east Texas, near Nacogdoches. Both 290 (Houston-Austin) and 59 (Houston-Lufkin) are state highways, meaning you have to go through stoplights and 35-mph zones when you're in towns, so the travel time is probably a bit less for Lufkin.

(Btw, I'm getting all this from a road atlas. I've never been to Lufkin. :-) )

It's about 100 statute miles/87 nautical miles northeast, as the Cessna flies. Great lunch flight.

Personally, I think Arlen would be better placed near Dallas. That's about three hours north of Houston on I-45. Arlen just reminds me of those outlying communities near Dallas, for some reason. Or perhaps it just sounds like 'Arlington' to me.

Kelly Rhodes said; Personally, I think Arlen would be better placed near Dallas. That's about three hours north of Houston on I-45. Arlen just reminds me of those outlying communities near Dallas, for some reason. Or perhaps it just sounds like 'Arlington' to me.

Jessi replys with; As a Texan myself and having lived in the D/FW area for several years,I have always felt that Arlen was located in that area.I really feels like some of those little towns,small,but not tiny.And big enough to have a "Wal-Mart" and a "Luby's".

On Fri, 12 Feb 1999 16:31:33 -0600 (CST), [email] (Jessi Cuellar) wrote:

I heard (albeit from an unreliable source) that Mike Judge based Arlen on Garland, a town near Dallas.

Well, Kahn said it was a 3-hour commute not merely to Houston but to his new job. This has at least two implications. First, there's the obvious delay caused by rush-hour traffic on whichever artery leads from Arlen to Houston (I-45?) and on the Loop (within Houston). Second, if Arlen is, say, north of Houston and Kahn's new workplace is, say, on the south side I can easily imagine a 3-hour rush hour commute.

Incidentally, Mike Judge spent some of his formative years living in Humble (pronounced "UM-bull", I kid you not), Texas and is on record as crediting the town as at a least partial inspiration for Arlen. Humble is located north of Houston, though not so far that a 3-hour commute would be likely even given a southside rush hour destination. Arlen's distance from Houston probably is more on the order of Conroe's than Humble's.

--/<eith

Perhaps he was going to work at Compaq? That's here on the northwest side on FM 249.

Interesting points. I agree that Judge took some inspiration from Humble, most likely. Yet I still think Arlen 'feels' (to me) more apt to be near Dallas. For some reason, 'Beavis & Butthead' seemed to be set in a Houston suburb, not KoTH. (B&B being the second best TV version of Texas life after KotH. I know these people, and am related to some of them!)

And of course, I think Arlen exists in its own Texas-limbo, everywhere and nowhere.

Everyone dance the Texas Limbo!

Kelly Rhodes,
Northwest of Houston, actually
	"We who fly do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air
	  with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet."
						-Cecil Lewis, S.E.5 ace

I just anted to wish you luck in finding Arlen. If you do, you'll let us know won't you?

arch stanton wrote:

Certainly. Im still looking.

arch stanton

Sorry to break the fantasy, guys, but there is no Arlen. Any relationship between it and apossible real-life Arlen are purely coincidental. Also, there IS a definitive location for Springfield in The Simpsons. It is 678 miles away from New Mexico. You apparently need to watch more TV. Turn to the FOX network and destroy the remote control.

Alexandria

You'd be surprised how much the voices know!

Andria2t wrote in message news:[email]...

there

away

network

Yeah, and wasn't Arlen about 3000 miles away from that (from the Simpsons episode where Springfield plays Arlen in pee-wee football)??? There are a lot of "clues" on the Simpsons about "Where's Springfield?" but a lot of them are contradictory. There used to be a list going around on a.t.s. for times location was aluded to and it let you grow your own conclusion. I don't know if it's still there, as I haven't read that group in about 2 1/2 years. There's not too many clues on the KOTH.

I think Springfield, Arlen, and whatever town your favorite cartoon character live in were intended to be made up towns and ambiguous. This way the writers aren't limited by location (moreso on the Simpsons than KOTH which we know for sure is in TX) and fans can see a little bit of their town in the shows.

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You do know that the "Real" Simpson's House is in Las Vegas, NV in a Development the builder calls "Springfield" Go to http://www.lvrj.com and take the virtual tour of the House.

Or buy "virtual springfield", the computer game. It's only $30 (cheap for a computer game) and has all of springfield, not just the house.