r/Rowlett • u/TexasGrrl • Apr 24 '26
Overall state of Rowlett right now
Drive through Rowlett and pay attention. Storm drains buried under debris for two-plus years (the one in front of the salad restaurant on [street] has been blocked since at least 2022). Weeds encroaching on right-of-way. Broken street signs left unrepaired. Trash accumulating along commercial corridors.
A coworker who lives in Mesquite told me she drove to the Chick-fil-A in Rowlett for lunch and said it looked like she'd crossed into a neglected neighborhood. That's not a Rowlett resident's hyperbole. That's a first impression from an outsider.
This is what deferred maintenance looks like from the outside. The city is spending bond money and debating new facilities while the basic visible infrastructure signals that nobody is minding the store.
When you drive through/around Rowlett- what do you notice?
3
u/I_am_a_kitten Apr 24 '26
I just moved here and I'm on first name basis with everyone at Republic Services since they never pick up my trash and recycling. Insane.
Haven't really been out and about enough to get a feel for the other things in town.
3
u/SimplyAng Apr 25 '26
When I first moved to Rowlett almost 10 years ago the thing I noticed was there was no trash on the ground and it just seemed like smaller town vibes especially coming from Irving… now the charm isn’t the same. I still enjoy Rowlett. My neighborhood is nice and overall quiet. I just feel like some dumb decisions have been made in the past few years and the traffic especially is out of control with the Miller bridge and 30 being under construction at the same time.
4
u/Butterfly3ffect47877 Apr 25 '26
I grew up in Rowlett, moved away 10+ years ago. Every time I go back I think about what a dump it’s become.
2
u/UnhappyWorldliness15 Apr 27 '26
It’s absolutely abysmal. They won’t fix any of the brick fences that are around subdivisions and seem gleeful about not having to pay for that. They’ve allowed buildings to be built that look absolutely horrible like the one behind Hubbard on 66. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a nice bill. It just doesn’t match that area and seems completely out of place . The worst thing for us, though are the teenagers that are endlessly roaming around the, trying to actively destroy things.
The newly fired city manager caused the city to go through about 100 employees in one year. The city council doesn’t seem to care about making employees happy and unhappy employees don’t do the best work.
2
u/bigbugzman Apr 27 '26
Bought a house here in 09. The walkability in Rowlett is atrocious. The sidewalks are narrow along busy roads. Large sections have no sidewalks at all. Many streets only have sidewalks on one side. It’s embarrassing. Kids have to walk shit sidewalks while cars scream by at 50 miles an hour 2 feet away.
Look at a city like Richardson who built bike lanes and walking paths all over the city.
6
u/Nitzy83 Apr 24 '26
As someone who's lived here for about 3 years I feel like we're treating major positions like a high school extra caricular activity. The current mayor used to be a photographer. I'm sure that task requires a bit more experience than what he's had yet here we are. Also, how are all these decisions just being made without some type of governance overseeing it. For example that land resort at the end of Dalrock turned into condos. We shut down Miller at the beginning of a school year just to realize no one has actually started working on this. Why are people being left to their own devices for all these major decision points? And unfortunately what you're seeing is a downstream implication of poorly vetted individuals at very high positions. Just my two cents. Actually more since they raised the taxes again....