What I set out here is, of course, only my opinion of how things could and should go. However, I'm not exactly a novice. I've been in this business since I was a senior in college. I started out as an intern with a real estate appraisal firm while still in school, and then on to construction material sales and mortgage banking, then built about 50 houses, then moved into the finance of real estate development for about 25 years. Since 1990, I have work for banks in rehabbing foreclosed properties, rebuilding offices, inspecting new construction, and approving disbursements of loan funds for real estate development. Approving $1 million a week in the funding of development loans is not an unusual week for me. While spending 25 years as a loan officer, analyzing markets and needs of markets were routine.
Now, in a previous post we have identified some mechanical ingredients of Rowlett's future. These features belong to us NOW. We don't have to go get them. So, the question now on the table seems to be how do we apply these features to get the kind of town we want?
There are all kinds of adjectives that can be used to describe a town; western, industrial, farming, coastal, urban, hick, and failing. All are some of the hundreds of words often used to characterize a town. A word says a lot of things. Any one of the above words suggests things about a town and it's inhabitants. They are "formative" words So.....what kind of town do we want Rowlett to be? There may not be any one best word because of differing personalities of the residents. However, there may be one of the better words that utilize all the features of both mechanical and planning attributes available to us. I'm not going to analyze all. I am going to cut to the chase.
I think Rowlett should re-brand itself as a resort and retirement town. Why? Because of existing features, and the ability to improve those features and add others.
Additional, and improvement of, other features are now very important and needs your undivided attention. It's based simply on what we've got, how we can use it, and what we can do to improve our town.
Actually, most of the heavy lifting is already done. The lake, the tollway, DART, Interstate 30, and now Bayside is already done or underway. All are now part of Rowlett.
In order to make Rowlett suitably desirable to become a destination for families wishing a water oriented lifestyle, or a final home for retirement, the whole town of Rowlett must become desirable. Of course, this would include suitable housing, retail outlets, job formation, and simply just a nice place to be.
We have many of the ingredients needed right now. Bayside is the bloom on the rose.
A following post will address a City Council special meeting held on 7/26/18. The meeting was called to hear the developers of Bayside and their presentation of the most recent development plans.