Garfield has completed a 20-year land-use plan that took a year of feedback from about 100 residents and stakeholders with support from two nonprofits and the architectural firm Perkins Eastman.

The plan will be presented at 6 p.m. tonight at the Community Activity Center, 113 N. Pacific St.

What distinguishes it from the master plans that many neighborhoods build is its focus on land use. Master plans cover everything from youth opportunities and jobs to public safety and commercial development.

Participants built this plan from a vision of what they wanted the neighborhood to look like and how they wanted it to be used in 2030.

"We don't need a lot more housing," said Aggie Brose, deputy director of the Bloomfield-Garfield Corp. "Our target over the next 20 years is for 900 additional housing units" -- from homes and apartments to condos and duplexes.

One goal of the plan is to shift home ownership from the current 49 percent to 52 percent, with more density the closer you get to Penn Avenue, said Freddie Croce, an architect and board member of the Bloomfield-Garfield Corp.

Its companion implementation plan has yet to be funded.

The Bloomfield-Garfield Corp. has applied for state tax credits to entice development of 49 rental homes, which would be companions of the 50 for-sale homes in a current housing plan. Thirty-two of those are completed; six more are under way.

Ms. Brose said the rest of the plan "has a lot of green in it."

"We are going to help homeowners winterize their homes and help them maintain their properties to stop foreclosures," she said. For all new construction, the plan's standard is a 15 percent reduction in energy costs.

Participants acknowledged that the neighborhood's former density will probably never return, said Mr. Croce. They said they wanted significant amounts of vacant land to be developed into gardens, parks, public green spaces and pedestrian walkways.

Ms. Brose said they want gardens linking properties to numerous vacant lots. The plan also calls for a hilltop complex of playing fields, a park and an environmental center, to be called Water Tower Hilltop Park, where a city water tower is, and an opening of all the streets that currently dead-end, she said.

Development of the hilltop into green spaces would include opening roadways to link Stanton Heights and Morningside and make the hilltop a multi-neighborhood asset, she said.

On city-owned lots, the greening can begin relatively soon, she said.

"Everybody will have to abide by this plan for years to come," said Ms. Brose "No slum landlords can come in and build up a portfolio of property here because we have a plan on file with the city. The plan will drive investment in Garfield."

"I am proud of my neighbors for coming together and making these plans," said Mr. Croce. "As a community, having a clear and unified voice recorded in a document helps us determine our fate."

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