40. Community Need With an eclectic mix of businesses and residential neighborhoods, Uptown Centerville consists of approximately 90 businesses ranging from boutiques and salons to restaurants and professional services, as well as hundreds of residents. Providing a strong sense of community, place, and quality of life, the City’s historic business district is a destination point that is uniquely Centerville. Undoubtedly, these characteristics are critical to business retention, expansion and attraction.
Beginning in 2019, Centerville undertook a visioning process with stakeholders to identify strategies to enhance the Uptown District. These strategies, which became the focus of the Uptown Action Plan, included expanding walkability and reducing traffic congestion, improving parking, scheduling and organizing new events, focusing on business development, developing branding, and increasing greenspace.
The Uptown Action Plan was adopted by City Council in August 2019 as an attachment to the City’s Comprehensive Plan. Following its adoption, the City contracted with urban planning firm MKSK and engineers from LJB to create a master concept plan and subsequent construction documents, for enhancements around the Main and Franklin Street intersection. The first phase of the project is currently under construction. This phase addresses several themes of the action plan by investing in redesigning the current parking layout to increase public parking capacity, creating pedestrian and vehicular connectivity, and creating business development opportunities. This has helped spark over $3.5 million in private investment into Uptown. The first phase of construction only improves a portion of the Uptown area, and future phases of the project will address similar themes throughout the district. Plans include improvements to public parking, traffic circulation, walkability, and the construction of community gathering spaces within Uptown.