Leander looks ahead to planned urban development

Taking advantage of its position as the terminus of Capital Metro's planned commuter rail line, Leander is dreaming big. What used to be just empty pasture will soon be a dense urban environment.

John Cowman, Mayor of Leander, said: "We're a town of 21,000 right now growing at approximately 18-20% a year. So we're very proud of that. We're planning Leander to house that growth because here it comes and we're not going to be able to stop it. This T.O.D.--the transit-oriented development--is going to have 30,000 people."

Scott Polikov of Gateway Planning is a partner in the development of Leander toward becoming the vision. Polikov said: "If you look at some of the neighborhoods in Austin or around Georgetown, you can get a sense of where we're headed. Clarksville, Hyde Park, those types of neighborhoods are a good indication of what some of the neighborhoods around the Leander TOD will be like. If you've been to Dallas, Ft. Worth, the stop in Plano, or Addison Circle where you have mid-rise buildings with retail on the ground floor and four, five, or six stories of loft apartments above, that would give you a sense of what we're talking about immediately around the rail station."

<<view clip (modem)
<<view clip (high speed)

Produced by Elena Ramirez.