The Town Of Leland: Identity Needed – Just My Opinion
Welcome to Leland, where the fun is!
June 17, 2023
The very first piece I wrote for Cape Fear Voices, “Not a Thang,” spoke of getting acclimated to the southern lifestyle. Since then, I wrote about the World Cup, the birth of a grandson and going solar. All would be considered “soft” and comfortable. For this piece I will toughen it up a bit- as the saying goes THE GLOVES ARE OFF.
We first heard about Leland about 20 years ago from my sister-in-law who at the time had a vacation home at Surf City, N.C. Back then new home prices were about 175K for the “middle class” communities. By the time we bought in 2022 prices had pretty much doubled.
The biggest worry right now is overexpansion. One of these days I’ll educate myself by reading Leland’s 2045 plan written in 2020 – for now here is my lament.
Leland population by the numbers (census data)
2000= 4,125
2010= 13,905
RIGHT NOW= 28,591. In the last twelve years the population more than doubled.
That’s right, in a little over 20 years the population has increased 700%. By any standard that is huge. To accommodate the influx, I’ll state the obvious, dozens of communities and retail stores have been built. Most communities are middle class, with most people still in the workforce.
The higher end communities such as Compass Point, Magnolia Greens and the big Kahuna, Brunswick Forest (3,500 homes and rising) appear to have an older demographic. In the meantime, the building boom is in full force. There are new communities and luxury rental apartments popping up like mushrooms in the rainy season. Just take a ride on Route 17 heading towards Bolivia and you’ll see hundreds if not thousands of empty units. Where will all the people come from? And, last but not least, what will they do?
Leland: NEEDS
New Businesses providing lots of good paying jobs: They’ll be hundreds of new “Lelandites” soon enough but will they find meaningful jobs in Leland? Probably not.
We also don’t have:
“Affordable” golf = Magnolia Greens raised rates, $53 for nine holes. Many people would like to play, but can’t afford that.
Theatre/ Cinema = We have none
Public pickle ball courts = There are no public pickle ball courts in Leland
Fine Restaurants = 1 (Cape Fear Seafood)
Big Box Stores = 1 (two once Lowes is finished)
Playground s= 1 (not including schools)
Nightclub with live music = 2, if you classify bars as nightclubs
Leland: PUMP THE BRAKES
What we do have:
Fast Food places
Oil Change places
Dollar Stores (and why is stuff more than $1?)
Houses of Worship (just saying…!)
Alligators and Buzzards (one of each would be plenty!)
Breweries – one is built one is coming (across from police headquarters!!)
The good news is that Wilmington is a short drive away. In the meantime, I’ll take a leap of faith and assume that a town of 30,000 people does have a plan and will have its own identity other than being close to the Port City and not far from the beaches
A good start would be minor league baseball coming to Leland possibly as soon as opening day, 2026. Minor league baseball is pure Americana. Ask anyone that’s ever taken the family to a game and they’ll tell you two things: lots of fun and affordable entertainment.
For reasons beyond the scope of this article, the town of Leland may welcome the sports complex but is unwilling (at this time) to help fund it in the form of bonds or increased taxes. Luckily though, I think the Texas Rangers baseball club has deep pockets (estimated $100 million project cost) and wants to make a scaled replica of MLB’s newest $1 billion gem, Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Now that taxpayers won’t have to shoulder the burden the thing naysayers can actually gripe about are traffic concerns in and out of the complex. Not a realistic worry, it’ll be managed efficiently by the experts, at least I hope so.
In closing, the town and the residents of Brunswick County will greatly benefit from the ballpark complex and finally give Leland the start of what it sorely needs, AN IDENTITY.
With hope
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Cape Fear in general.
John McLeod • Jan 19, 2024 at 11:53 am
Hello John,
I heard you on the news this morning (2024-1-19) and wanted to share my thoughts about a Leland Identity. My wife and I moved to Wilmington in August 2023 but are very familiar with the Wilmington area. I don’t know enough about Leland to say whether or not it has an identity problem but I can tell you relying on a pro sports team to give you that identity is not the way to do it.
I grew up in northeast Ohio and lived there most of my life. All three of the professional “ball sports” in Cleveland have all tried to hold the city and the region hostage at one time or another. They want all sorts of tax breaks, stadium upgrades …you name it. When Art Modell didn’t get his way, he just moved the team.
Any business that can pay some of the player salaries out there should not “need” a city to foot their bills.
I think your heart is in the right place but don’t go the pro sports route.
Jane Crowder • Jul 1, 2023 at 6:32 pm
1990 and before:
1. People knew one another and was there to help where and when needed, not griping about your neighbors.
2. Yes you had to “cross the bridge” most of the time to shop but the residents catered to local eateries.
3. Cars in Leland had horns. They were used in case of emergency, not to “Honk Honk get out of my way!!!! Going to slow”!!!!!!!
4. We had an elementary, middle and high school that taught reading, writing and math. They also taught to read signs that are erected for the public safety .
As anyone seen these signs before:
“No Turn on Red”—-quess that’s for other drivers not me
“Yield”——. To who ?Don’t see any horses ?
“ Red— Stop/. Green —-go/. Yellow—Speed up and go as fast as you can while laying down on your horn and don’t forget the hand jester!!!
In North Carolina there are No left turns on red. Maybe where you came from but not here. Great suggestion get a driver’s manual. It might help you…..
Christmas was a magical time in Leland. Had Christmas Parade that anybody and everybody was in, from young to old. Also had a festival that involved your local talents and even some known ones. Parents and grandparents were so excited and proud to see their little ones on stage showing off their talents.
Then a complaint was lodged because of closing the roads for about 3 hours and the group that worked hard all year to put on this festival and parade was denied a permit to have it. So sadly to say thanks to some local officials for the North Carolina Festival and Parade is sadly gone
So these are just a few things about Leland that is missed and where southern charm was the way of life. “ Love me some Leland”