Tens of thousands of people go through Uptown each day on their way to someplace else. Community leaders want to give them a reason to stop and stay awhile.

After half a year of work, Uptown residents, business interests and other stakeholders have devised a plan aimed at transforming the gritty neighborhood wedged between Downtown and Oakland into a hub for housing, professional offices and retail.

The Uptown Community Vision, put together with the help of a team of consultants, targets 12 areas for improvement in the Fifth and Forbes corridor, stretching from Washington Place and the new arena to the Birmingham Bridge and beyond, by 2020.

From one end to the other, there would be restaurants, apartments, professional offices, public art displays, trees and lighting, parks and bike trails, and programs to reduce crime and increase safety -- all designed to turn Uptown into a "national example of uniting people, institutions and assets to effect positive change."

It's a daunting task for a neighborhood with a population of 4,200 people, 3,500 of them students, which may be known more for parking lots and abandoned buildings than anything else.

The six-month visioning process was the first step in changing that image.

Consultants Metropulos Development, Rothschild Doyno Collaborative and GSP Consulting held a community forum, met with neighborhood stakeholders and worked with a steering committee to craft the proposal for an extreme makeover.

"I think as a first step, it was a great first step. It got everyone to the table who needed to be there. There was a lot of engagement, a lot of enthusiasm and the vision is a good one," said Linda Metropulos of Metropulos Development.

Of the 12 areas singled out for improvement, three are identified as "catalytic projects" designed to get the ball rolling. They are:

• Locust Street near UPMC Mercy, where the plan envisions a collaborative effort between the Uptown Partners community group and UPMC in developing new and restored homes, professional offices and neighborhood retail, perhaps in conjunction with a hospital expansion.

Th project also would include new parks, street trees and lighting. A Locust Street "restaurant row and wellness center" would transition into a Gist Street arts district.

• The Pride Street corridor. Labeled a "transit hub," the report envisions mixed-use development in this area, with first-floor retail and upper-floor housing. There also would be integrated or structured parking.

The plan sees Pride Street as a natural link between ongoing redevelopment in the Bluff spawned by Duquesne University and UPMC Mercy and Crawford Square in the Hill District.

• Jumonville Street to the Birmingham Bridge. The report calls for creation of a "diverse, progressive weed and seed program in this sector to increase safety and eradicate crime," as well as development of parks and trails and restoration or demolition of blighted buildings.

"There's been a lot of crime in that neighborhood and location," Ms. Metropulos said. "The idea is to do a weed and seed, and try to eliminate some of the disincentive for living in that neighborhood."

Jeanne McNutt, chair of the housing and economic development committee for Uptown Partners, described the final product as a "very articulate plan ... that really captured the thoughts and ideas of the community."

Overall, the plan calls for as many as 750 new housing units, 400 for graduate students; as much as 275,000 square feet of professional medical office space and 100,000 square feet of research and tech space; and a mix of stores, entertainment venues, restaurants and services.

Steve Schillo, Duquesne University vice president for management and business, said the Uptown blueprint meshes well with the school's master plan, part of which focuses on Forbes Avenue redevelopment.

The university already has invested some $43.5 million on Forbes in building the Power Center, which includes state-of-the-art recreation facilities, a Barnes & Noble bookstore and a sky bridge to its campus on the Bluff. It also has plans for housing, academic and office space, more retail and perhaps a theater on Forbes next to the Power Center.

"We expected and hoped that the kind of design standards and the vision we stirred in our master plan would go beyond our borders, and this plan does that," Mr. Schillo said.

He, for one, sees a great need for more housing in Uptown, noting Duquesne residence halls are at capacity. The school provides no graduate student housing.

"There is room for this development to take place alongside the existing residential population," he said.

Duquesne has 10,300 students, about 3,500 of whom live on campus. Mr. Schillo envisions a day when students will be able to leave campus to partake in restaurants, parks and amenities throughout Uptown.

One area not initially targeted for redevelopment is Fifth Avenue near the new Consol Energy Center. While the plan calls for restaurants, street improvements and public art displays in this gateway, it sees no need to focus attention there at first. Ms. Metropulos said the arena project already is creating enough momentum.

"In a way, it didn't have to be one of the projects the community had to work on because it's already being worked on," she said.

However, while praising the overall report, city Urban Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Rob Stephany said he believes the arena area deserves immediate attention.

"We're not Miami. You can't assume you can create a spark and a wildfire will ensure," he said. "From my vantage point, the arena will be a success when it's part of an arena district, not an event by itself.

"I think we owe it to ourselves to be purposeful in making sure there's the right mix of uses to capture peoples' hearts and pocketbooks."

Regardless of the order, the plan will need significant capital investment, although it offered no cost estimates. Finding investors willing to take the risk during a period of recession and tight credit markets might be the biggest challenge of all.

"I'm not sure what the most doable is," said city Councilwoman Tonya Payne, who represents Uptown. "It depends on the capacity to raise enough money to do any of it."

She said community leaders must involve as many business interests as possible in the plan in hopes of attracting investment. She also sees a need for help from the URA, where she serves as a board member.

Ms. McNutt went a step further, saying any public-private collaboration "needs a strong buy-in from the mayor down to bring a full spectrum of city resources to the table. This is a vision that deserves all the resources they can send our way."

Mr. Stephany believes investors will be there, given Uptown's untapped potential. He thinks resources such as historic and new market tax credits, so instrumental in redeveloping Downtown, can be used to help finance projects. He also sees a role for local banks.

"I am optimistic that we are going to start to see people who want to take a risk and bring Uptown back," he said.

Mr. Schillo agrees. The university already has fielded inquiries from private investors interested in exploring possible partnerships. School studies have shown that about 1,000 cars drive the Fifth and Forbes corridor during the rush hour peak.

"If you're a private investor, you look at that and say, 'That's an opportunity,' " he said.

The URA, Mr. Stephany said, will continue to play a role in filling funding gaps. "We're going to close deals if we can close deals," he said.

One key private stakeholder in any effort to transform Uptown is Tony Williams, whose family by his count controls more than 150 properties in the neighborhood, many along Fifth Avenue.

More than a few are parking or vacant lots, a source of friction in the past. More recently, Mr. Williams has vowed to be an agent of change for the neighborhood. He called the final plan, part of which his family funded, "pretty darn good."

Mr. Williams is ready to invest. He hopes to start construction by year's end on a development in the 1600 block of Fifth, a couple of blocks from Pride Street.

There he has plans to build apartments geared toward UPMC Mercy employees and Duquesne graduate students mixed with first-floor retail, underground parking and a green roof.

"If the bank says OK, I'm going to do it," he said. "It looks like nobody else is going to do it. They're afraid. I don't know why. I think it's a great area."

Mr. Williams would like to build as many as 1,000 apartment units in Uptown over the next 10 years.

To help implement and drive the overall vision, the plan calls for creation of a public-private task force made up of neighborhood institutions such as Duquesne, UPMC and the Penguins; funders; and government agencies to work with Uptown Partners.

Building consensus and investment might be difficult given the various players. But the payoff could be huge.

"It's really a wonderful neighborhood in the city, and you can imagine what it would look like in 10 years with the right leadership and guidance," Ms. Metropulos said. "It really can be a gem in the city."