Housing around Arthur City is almost entirely rural and low-density. Rather than a conventional subdivision market, the area is characterized by single-family homes on acreage, ranch properties, and scattered homesites along U.S. Highway 271, Farm Road 197, and the surrounding county roads. Lot sizes are typically large, and agricultural and recreational land use is common. The housing stock ranges from older farmhouses to newer custom-built homes, reflecting the area's long farming heritage and its appeal to those seeking space and privacy within reach of Paris and Pat Mayse Lake.

Arthur City is not divided into formal neighborhoods; it is a small, unincorporated crossroads community. Development is spread along the highway corridors and back roads, blending into the working farmland and pastures of northern Lamar County. Nearby named places such as Powderly and Chicota provide additional rural population nodes, while Pat Mayse Lake's recreation area and shoreline host a mix of cabins, camps, and lakeside properties. This scattered pattern gives the whole area a spacious, country feel rather than a defined subdivision structure.

Life around Arthur City is quiet and rural. Homes, ranches, and small farms are scattered along the highways and county roads rather than clustered into a dense town center, and much of daily activity revolves around the outdoors — fishing on Pat Mayse Lake, riding the area's equestrian trails, hunting, and working the land. For shopping, schools, healthcare, and dining, residents turn to nearby Paris, the Lamar County seat, about twelve miles south on U.S. Highway 271. The result is a lifestyle that pairs open, low-density country living with convenient access to a regional hub.

Students in the Arthur City area attend the North Lamar Independent School District, which is based in nearby Paris, Texas. The district serves the northern and central Lamar County communities, providing elementary, middle, and high school education within a short drive of Arthur City. For families, this means rural living with access to a full district campus system in Paris, along with the athletics and extracurricular programs that come with it. Additional educational and training opportunities are available through Paris Junior College and other institutions in the region.

U.S. Highway 271 is Arthur City's main transportation corridor, running north toward the Red River and the Oklahoma line and south to Paris, the Lamar County seat about twelve miles away. Farm Road 197 and a network of county roads connect the community to the surrounding countryside and to Pat Mayse Lake. The Red River itself is a defining geographic feature, though it serves more as a boundary and recreation resource than as a crossing point for daily travel. Paris provides the nearest concentration of services, with regional routes linking the area to the broader Northeast Texas highway network.

Pat Mayse Lake is the centerpiece of recreation near Arthur City. This roughly 5,940-acre reservoir, impounded in 1967 on Sanders Creek, supports fishing, boating, and lakeside camping, and its recreation area includes the Pat Mayse Equestrian Trails, a system of more than 20 miles of paths through rolling grasslands and woodlands. The Red River adds shoreline access for anglers and a scenic northern boundary, while the wider Lamar County countryside offers hunting and other rural outdoor pursuits. Paris, a short drive south, supplies additional parks, sports facilities, and community recreation.