Leander may see 50% population rise

LEANDER, Texas (KXAN) - Leander's Heather Hoffman has been looking forward to warmer weather again. Like other parents playing at the Robin Bledsoe Park on Bagdad Road, Hoffman says the 70-degree weather is just right to come out and play.

"It's great because our house is right across the street," said Hoffman. "We have this wonderful park to come to. Friends and family are all close."

City Manager Kent Cagle says that because of people like Hoffman, word is out about life in Leander. Unlike many other Texas cities, Leander has bucked the trend and is expecting a population boom unlike anything the city has seen before. It is expected to go from 31,000 residents today to 50,000 in five years.

Cagle said that at present, about 10,000 lots are either under construction or on the drawing board.

And that people want to come to Leander is not surprising to Ashley Mercer. The parks are a drawing card, and so is the proximity to Austin. At 35 miles away, Leander is remote from the big city, but still not too far away.

"It's close to Austin. But it's still far enough you know where you can kind of feel out of the city," said Mercer.

More people, more schools and more retail, could turn little Leander into a major city in no time, said Cagle.

"We're in between a couple retail centers in Cedar Park and Georgetown," he said. "And so that's where a lot of our residents are served.

"But as we add more rooftops, were working on getting some of those employment and retail centers to Leander."