Rockwall questions (Dallas, Garland, Mesquite: 2011, hotel, houses)

[tsangia]

Hi All!
Were planning a trip in April to check out Rockwall,Allen and Keller.
Here's a few questions about Rockwall. We have 5 children ages 2-15, Rockwall seems to have good schools. We like a lake view around 300K 4 br.
1/3 acre min. My husband is retired, i'm working on my nursing degree.
What's the closest college?

Do they have any Walmarts, Targets, whole foods, and club warehouses like Sams or Bj's?

Any flood areas? Nearest Hospital?

Were visiting in April, do you think the schools will let us take a tour?
My son (15)wants to see the football field!

Are the roads toll roads?

Thank you soo much for taking time to answer my questions!

[texahoan]

I'm not sure about the schools (no kids)... but they have:
Walmart
Target
Dick's Sporting Goods
Best Buy
Circuit City
Stein Mart
Buffalo Wild Wing's
Ruby Tuesday's

They do NOT have:
CostCo
Sam's Club

The roads are a MESS right now (construction all over the place), however, it appears that they are keeping ahead of the growth and once the construction is done it will be nice.

[momof2dfw]

We have 5 children ages 2-15, Rockwall seems to have good schools. We like a lake view around 300K 4 br.
1/3 acre min.
Should be able to find there no problem. You can stay closer in to the main part of the city or venture out to a more "country" feel.

My husband is retired, i'm working on my nursing degree.
What's the closest college?
The closest college is in Commerce. Texas A&M Commerce. You could also check out TWU at their Dallas Campus depending on how far along you are in your program. TWU is Texas Womans University w/ the main campus in Denton. However, every teacher in the Rockwall, Garland, Mesquite area that is going to still teach and work on their masters goes up to Commerce.

Do they have any Walmarts, Targets, whole foods, and club warehouses like Sams or Bj's?

SuperWalmart
Target
Kroger
Albertsons
Walmart Neighborhood Market
Brookshires
Bealls
Stein Mart (LOVE that place)
Belk's
JC Penney
Dicks Sporting Goods
Circuit City
Justice for Girls (owned by Limited Too but a little less expensive)
SuperTarget in Rowlett
MANY, MANY more shops coming and others not listed

Restaurants and this is not even all of them:
TGI Fridays
La Madeline
Applebee's
Chili's
Salt Grass Steakhouse
Snuffers
The Oar House
Dodie's
Gloria's
Steak n Shake
TONS MORE

Any flood areas? Nearest Hospital?
Not really any flood areas around there that I've seen
There is a new surgical center that recently opened up in Rockwall that is part of the Presbyterian Hospital system.
Nearest FULL hospital is right across the lake on Hwy 66 in Rowlett, LakePoint Medical Center. A bit further on into Garland and you have Baylor Garland.

Were visiting in April, do you think the schools will let us take a tour?
Yes

My son (15)wants to see the football field!
GOOD football team and they made the playoffs this last season. ALMOST HAD IT VERY FAMILY friendly on Friday nights at the games. There are two high schools in Rockwall. The oldest is Rockwall HS and the new one is Rockwall Heath. Rockwall HS (5A) plays all of the Garland High Schools so traveling for games is EASY!!! Rockwall Heath (4A) just got realigned last week in the UIL and now will be traveling a bit and I heard they are going to be playing Highland Park

Are the roads toll roads?
There is a toll road. Hwy 190 aka George Bush Turnpike. The main interstate that goes thru Rockwall is I-30. Within a month or two the NTTA will be starting back up to finish 190 from its current stopping point in Garland at Hwy 78, it will go thru Rowlett, back into Garland as it crosses the lake and then connect to I-30 just a few miles away from Rockwall. This will be GREAT NEWS when FINALLY finished. This is the only toll road close to Rockwall. The other is Dallas North Tollroad and it starts just north of Downtown Dallas and goes straight north all the way up thru Frisco. PITA in rush hour traffic.

Oh, Sam's Club. There are some but not in Rockwall right now. I only give that a matter of time. There is one in North Garland right off of 190 at N. Garland Ave. This is where my friends in Rockwall go when they need to. Otherwise with all of the new stuff they got out there now they don't need to leave the city. What is sad is Rowlett has been larger for Rockwall for a LONG time and is getting 190 yet they don't have diddly compared to Rockwall.

Yes, Rockwall has been working hard to keep up w/ the growth. They are doing a bangup job. I'd just avoid ANY commute thru Rowlett. It is HORRIBLE now and is only going to get worse with the 190 construction. Every major road in that town is torn up and is not slated to be done for another few years. DOUBLE

[MurphyPl1]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

GOOD football team and they made the playoffs this last season. ALMOST HAD IT VERY FAMILY friendly on Friday nights at the games. There are two high schools in Rockwall. The oldest is Rockwall HS and the new one is Rockwall Heath. Rockwall HS (5A) plays all of the Garland High Schools so traveling for games is EASY!!! Rockwall Heath (4A) just got realigned last week in the UIL and now will be traveling a bit and I heard they are going to be playing Highland Park

Poor Homer, he just had that one year of an all Garland district. How on earthy can he assure a GHS District Championship if they keep throwing in schools from other districts. He finally disposed of the strong teams at Mesquite and North Mesquite and now Rockwall is a threat.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by MurphyPl1

Poor Homer, he just had that one year of an all Garland district. How on earthy can he assure a GHS District Championship if they keep throwing in schools from other districts. He finally disposed of the strong teams at Mesquite and North Mesquite and now Rockwall is a threat.

Yep. He wanted Rockwall out the year before when they got realigned to east Texas. Rockwall did it one year then appealed the next and got in w/ Garland. Oh well, I actually like playing Rockwall.

[tsangia]

Thank you so much for all the info. can't wait to see your town in April! Should we stay at the Holiday inn or La Quinta?

My son was happy to hear about the football team. How do you think they will welcome a new player, he's was the QB#1 J.V. team this year. He's 6'3 as a freshman. He lives for football! What better place to move than the State that LOVES football!!!

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by tsangia

Thank you so much for all the info. can't wait to see your town in April! Should we stay at the Holiday inn or La Quinta?

My son was happy to hear about the football team. How do you think they will welcome a new player, he's was the QB#1 J.V. team this year. He's 6'3 as a freshman. He lives for football! What better place to move than the State that LOVES football!!!

The star quarterback is graduationg this year. Signed yesterday with SMU. So I'm sure they will welcome another good QB.

See, the Holiday Inn is the Holiday Inn Express on I-30 next to the Dodge dealership. If you stay on one side of the hotel your son could see the football stadium out the window. Kind of squeezed in there though. La Quinta......... why am I not placing it????? Oh, go to Joe Willy's for a hamburger too and he will see all of the sports teams and sports memoriablia on the walls in there for the local teams.

[KantLockeMeIn]

Originally Posted by tsangia

Thank you so much for all the info. can't wait to see your town in April! Should we stay at the Holiday inn or La Quinta?

My son was happy to hear about the football team. How do you think they will welcome a new player, he's was the QB#1 J.V. team this year. He's 6'3 as a freshman. He lives for football! What better place to move than the State that LOVES football!!!

There's also a comfort suites in Rowlett right across the lake from Rockwall. My wife stayed there when she interviewed for her current job in Rockwall (before we moved here).

Rockwall is a great town... if the IT jobs were all there, I'd move there in a heartbeat. Check out the lake when you visit... if you go to eat at Gloria's or Dodie's, they're both right on the lake in a beautiful shopping center. We've got our boat just across the lake at a marina and can drive the boat up to the dock at the shopping center and get lunch... it's awesome.

[KantLockeMeIn]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

Are the roads toll roads?
There is a toll road. Hwy 190 aka George Bush Turnpike. The main interstate that goes thru Rockwall is I-30. Within a month or two the NTTA will be starting back up to finish 190 from its current stopping point in Garland at Hwy 78, it will go thru Rowlett, back into Garland as it crosses the lake and then connect to I-30 just a few miles away from Rockwall. This will be GREAT NEWS when FINALLY finished.

Any word on when it will be finished?

[jpeagle21]

By now you have probably made your trip. But here are my 2 cents about Rockwall to counter all of the glowing 1-sided reviews. The place has it's good points and bad points. You have heard the good...here is the bad. BTW, I lived in Rockwall for 4 years 02-06.

1) City Government is very much a "good-ol-boy" system. There were at least a couple of people arrested while I was there for stealing city money. Also, most of the decisions made are to benefit a select few.....the mostly wealthy people living on the South side.
2) Most of the relatively newer residents have a "holier than thou" attitude. And, the city is gradually being taken over by these people.
3) It appears that the schools are good education-wise, but I have heard numerous times that students that are not in the elite (wealthy) group are severely looked down upon and made to feel irrelevant (mostly by other students).
4) They have a few restaurants, but there is not enough to satisfy long-term. You will be sick of hitting all of the same places after about 6 months. The nearest Sams is 20 minutes away. The nearest mall is 15 minutes away, but most people from Rockwall pass up Town East Mall because they "don't like the type of people who hang out there." The next closest mall is a good 30-40 minute drive from Rockwall.
5) Traffic is BAD right now. Construction everywhere. You only have one main artery into Dallas (I-30) and if there is a wreck there, you are in trouble. If you are forced to go through Wylie or Forney it will take you a LONG time.

I could list more, but I think I hit the main ones. The city is like any other....good and bad....I just wanted you to hear both sides.

If you are the kind of person who will get a confidence boost by feeling like people envy you for living in Rockwall or Frisco than look no further, but if not, there are many other afordable towns around Dallas that have good schools and good quality of life. And, you can always drive to Rockwall if you want to see the lake.

P.S. You will not find a house for $300,000 with that size lot and a lake view. Unless you want a 1200 sq. ft. house or less.

P.P.S. The HWY 190 connection is scheduled to be completed in 2011.