Tell me about Rowlett (Houston, Dallas: appointed, fit in, for sale)

[countrydeb22]

Hi! My husband and I have been kicking around the idea of moving to Texas for a few years, but it looks like it might be a real possibility within the next year or so (hoping!!). I've done some research about different areas of Texas and my hubby likes Houston but I love the Dallas area, particularly Rowlett. Don't ask me why, but I have fallen in love with Rowlett. I saw it last year when it was on the 50 best small towns to live in and have loved it ever since. If we move, this is where I'd love to move to. But I want to make sure I'm not just seeing it from rose colored glasses (especially since I've never visited there or seen it). But I'd just like to know what it's like in Rowlett and if we'd fit in there.

I am 42 and my husband is 52. We are older parents, have two children ages 7 & 4. We are looking for probably a 3 bed/2 bath house, nothing big or elegant, thinking in the $125K range or there abouts. We love the outdoors, so parks and nature stuff is important. I especially love the lake in Rowlett! Can you fish there? Are there "bad" neighborhoods in Rowlett? My husband is looking to retire early from his job and do some part time work and I work from home, so commuting is not a real concern for us. We come from a rather small community right now and are looking forward to having more shopping/amenties. I guess we would just like a smaller, kid-friendly neighborhood with access to a bigger city when we'd like to explore or do more. Does that make sense?

Thank you in advance for any information and opinions!!

[LQQKOUT]

Hello I live in Rowlett and love it here. I think it would be a great fit for your family. A lot of other poster might prefer you looking else where as many don't know much about Rowlett. You can fish at the lake, you can boat and ski more on the south end towards Rockwall. The schools are good Rowlett has two districts Garland ISD and Rockwall ISD as the city boarders two counties Dallas and Rockwall County. Every city and town in America has "bad" neighborhoods. We have older areas of the city that do need a facelift so to speak. And our city electives have this "Grand Plan" called Realize 2020. We do have some high water rates in our county...but not that this would make moving here a deal breaker. Travel to downtown, Plano, Rockwall and any other area is really easy. If you have any other questions you can pm me. Shopping at places like the harbor in Rockwall orFirewheel inGarland are great.

[ETex2]

I've lived in Rowlett for 13 years and really like it as well for the most part. There are some older areas, with older homes, but not nearly as much as Garland and Mesquite. You can buy a pretty nice home in a good neighborhood in your price range. You might want to consider the part of Rowlett in Rockwall County (east of Dalrock Road), since your kids will go to Rockwall schools which are higher rated than the Garland ISD where most Rowlett kids attend.

Probably the worst part about the city is the city management, zoning, etc.. The big Realize Rowlett 2020 thing was a decent effort by the city itself, however the firm and esp. the woman who ran the presentations for the city and supposedly did the research, had no clue about what she was doing, what the city needed, and didn't do her homework. No telling how many hundreds of thousands of dollars they paid this woman and her firm (I think they are from Oregon?) to do this completely phony study. But the city fathers here aren't really know for their wise decisions. Millions spent making our tiny downtown prettied up hoping to attract businesses since the Dart train was coming. Guess what - Dart train is here - that's nice, but downtown is worse now than ever as to occupancy levels for commercial uses. I could go on....property taxes and water rates are higher than most suburbs due to mismanagement IMHO.

But if you stay away from politics and do NOT start a business here (they are extremely anti-business unless you are a big box store), you should enjoy it. Shopping is somewhat limited but we do have a SuperWalmart and a SuperTarget, etc.. Rockwall shopping, restaurants, the Harbor are all great and near by.

[biscuitmom]

Great comments from ETex and LQQKOUT.
I'd only add ~ be sure you understand that Rowlett is very very much a suburb,exurb in the huge, sprawling DFW metroplex, and not at all a "small town", as most understand it. It does have proximity to shopping and the big-city access you're seeking. But the shopping mostly consists of strip mall, retail-sprawl and big box.
It's not locally known for parks/nature/outdoor areas. I'm scratching my head over that one.

I live, happily, in adjoining Rockwall and am not dissing this area. Just cautioning you to check it out before committing.

[Rowlett Resident]

Rowlett does have a lot to offer if you don't get caught up in the local politics. The lake is great! You have the two mile bridge going over to Rockwall. There is a walking lane on the bridge that is the most used walking path in either city. Rowlett is planning a large park on it's side of the lake and construction should start within the next few months. There are many other parks in the city where you can ride bicycles or just walk. The largest is Community Park. It even has a fishing pond along with many baseball and soccer fields. There are neighborhood parks all around town.

As a previous posted said we are divided into two school districts. The Garland School district has several elementary schools, at least two middle schools and a high school in the Dallas County area. The Rockwall School District has one elementary school in Rowlett but children must ride the bus to Rockwall for middle schools and high schools. The Rockwall school system is an excellent system. You need to live in Rockwall County to legally attend the Rockwall schools but I know of several parents that live in Dallas County that drop children off at their grandparents in Rockwall County so they can attend the RISD.

The DART light rail just opened in Rowlett last month. The seems to be plenty of parking available to take the train to Dallas, Plano, Richardson and other DFW cities.

We are deficient in retail businesses. We have a Super Target and a Super Walmart, a Big Lots, a Dollar Tree, Petsmart, Ross and several smaller businesses. We have Tom Thumb (Safeway), Albertson's and Aldi grocery stores.

The city leaders are tryiing to assure no new homes are built that sell for less than $250,000. However most of the existing homes are selling for far less than that. You can easily get a nice home in Rowlett for $150,000 or less.

The people here are friendly except when they are on the roads then they become typical Texans and can't get somewhere fast enough.

Come join us. You will love it. We moved here over 20 years ago primarily because of the nice lake and cheaper housing than in most parts of the metroplex.

[countrydeb22]

Thank you all so much!! This is exactly what I was seeking to know. I want to make an informed decision and this is all really great information.

[ShellNic]

I lived in Rowlett for about 10 years and lived in Rockwall and Garland or surrounding for a very long time. It's true that Rowlett is not longer the 2-light sleepy town anymore that I remember from the 80's but I think it still has a feel to it thats kinda slower paced and nice. I don't like that it always seemed to have construction but that has gotten immensely better now that the toll road is finished.

Things I like about Rowlett:

1 - Plenty of grocery stores, convenient stores and other "everyday" shopping facilities for you - Dallas is close enough if you want specialty items and the sort - TONS of options for variety.

2 - The lake is nice - I lived off of Delta and on the 4th of July, I could stand in front of my house and watch the city fireworks display - across the lake. The sunsets are awesome and it's quiet and peaceful where I lived. Older homes (late 80's) and extremely reasonable.

3 - I liked that the people in the stores and/or restaurants got to know me or at least recognize my face.

4 - I had a blowout one very hot July evening. Pulled over off of Dalrock close to 30. Two cars stopped to help. One guy, drove back to his house to get a proper jack, while his wife kept me company. He came back, changed my tire, and was the most pleasant guy I've talked to yet. His wife was super friendly and sweet. I hugged them and just kept shaking my head at how kind they were...and yet, this isn't uncommon...people are pretty nice.

5 - The entire city seems super kid oriented...you always see teams and groups at different pizza joints or Fuzzy's or wherever...there's always a crowd at Nick's...the people at Walmart aren't "THE PEOPLE OF WALMART" thank goodness and the feel, in general, is nice.

6 - All Star Burger...o.m.g. DELICIOUS.

My only problem is that the company I worked for (a professional position) moved OUT of Rowlett to Plano. I was so disappointed that I couldn't work where I live. OP won't have that problem thankfully, but it was a big drag for me!!

I really do think this town is pretty nice, even if it has some problems. You'll have to decide what things are easy to tolerate and which aren't...the good thing is, the things you might have to "tolerate" (like Code Enforcers), really aren't that bad.

[mondo_tiki_man]

My wife and I have lived here for 14 years. It's a great little community, and people joke that the city motto should be "Rowlett, not as far as you'd think" because everyone seems to think it is really far from anywhere, but it isn't. Especially not now with the new turnpike extension.

To be honest, I like my neighborhood [Waterview] far better than Rowlett at large, but that's more because the neighborhood is really nice than anything. There are some great restaurants, decent shopping, and you're really close to some equally nice areas to visit in Rockwall, Garland and Plano. The people are wonderful, but then people in Texas generally are (and I'm not from here, so no biases).

The city isn't *quite* as incredible as the article made out, but it's really nice. The 4th of July festival is fun, the waterpark is really cool, there are a lot of outdoor trails in the area and the lake is a huge amenity. I'm actually surprised it's as underutilized as it is. You can definitely fish there, mostly catsifh and bass, maybe some drummies and crappie. The city has established a new Paddle Point park where you can rent kyaks and such to go out on. Lotsa fun.

There is some new construction going on right now, depending on what housing options you're looking for. You can find higher end single family here Google Maps which is right next to Keely elementary and here Rowlett, TX - Google Maps which is right next to Liberty Grove elementary. There is also a development going in here Rowlett, TX - Google Maps behind the Primrose School and also by Keely, but it is a year or two out. Should be a wonderful community thought.

As for existing home stock, Waterview is a good place to look. Here's a link to Zillow centered on the neighborhood: Rowlett Real Estate & Rowlett TX Homes for Sale - Zillow

Waterview http://bit.ly/WEgvxB is an HOA (fair warning) but it's also the kind of place kids leave their bikes out in the yard all night and you can walk at all hours without any worries. Most dangerous things out here are the possum.

Good luck.

[countrydeb22]

Thank you SO MUCH!!! Truly I appreciate all of the great information. And those links are very helpful, so thank you!

I am excited for two reasons...one my husband put in for a transfer to the Dallas area to get us there quicker until he can actually retire. The problem is there are no job openings at the moment (he works for the Post Office) but we're hoping one becomes available sometime soon. Second, I am thrilled because we are taking our vacation in Dallas this summer!!!! I am seriously on cloud nine knowing that I'm going to visit your wonderful state. I plan on taking at least a whole day and checking out Rowlett and the surrounding areas and such, just to get a feel and an idea. It'll be nice to put a picture of everything in my head. So while we're there, what should we do, where should we have lunch/dinner, what kid activities are there? We're coming in June. And yes, I know it'll be hot, but I want to experience that as well!!

Thanks again! Ya'll are great (I"m practicing!!!).