It may not be possible to resolve the great Nearlington vs. Farlington debate. But there’s a compromise available: apparently we can start calling both halves of the county Smartlington. If for some reason we wanted to.

Via the Examiner, it seems that Money Magazine has named Arlington the most educated city in the country thanks to an impressive 35.7 percent of its citizens holding graduate degrees (apparently this was enough to make up for the fact that it isn’t actually a city). Towson, Bethesda and Alexandria also made the top ten.

Having been born and raised in Arlington, I can’t say I’m too surprised. It’s got wealth, proximity to the government, and a level of density that allows for a suburban lifestyle that’s relatively urban. It seems that the county’s especially well-positioned to attract the over-educated class. And, Money Magazine list or no, between Arlington’s boringly competent government, solid schools and good library system, it always seemed like a pretty smart place to me. Although admittedly not smart enough avoid having lines queued up outside the Clarendon Cheesecake Factory every Friday night.