Ron Miller of Rowlett // December 13, 2009
During the settlement years of mid-America, after the Civil War and before 1890, two things almost assured the future of any new town for the first 150 years after its establishment. The first thing needed for a secure future was a railhead. The railroad must come to town. The second thing needed was a cattle trail, which subsequently would become a numbered highway.
Today, development of a prime suburban city takes a little more work.
Rowlett was a sleepy little wide spot in the road 34 years ago. It had 1,500 people. Now it has a population of 55,000. It had no railroad or cattle trail, and any roads were only two lanes without shoulders. There were no stoplights.
Rowlett grew simply because Dallas spilled out over its lip. Mesquite, Garland, Richardson and Plano all grew into major cities. Each of these cities had one feature in common. All had major highways to accommodate them. Rowlett probably should have been gobbled up, since it had few of the required resources. But it wasn't. Somehow, the little town survived and grew modestly.
Then it seemed to grow faster than contemporary civic planning could keep up. Some nice things were missing: nice parks, bike paths, hiking trails, upscale commercial development – and the jobs resulting from commercial development.
Rowlett is only now receiving a railhead and a major highway. A cattle trail was dismissed as unnecessary. DART is busy planning for the construction of the DART Blue Line, and the North Texas Tollway Authority is busy building the extension of the President George BushTurnpike through Rowlett and connecting with Interstate 30.
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