BERKLEY -- Standing by while its neighbors Royal Oak, Ferndale and Birmingham revitalized their downtowns, Berkley has decided it's time to reinvent itself.

City planning leaders are focusing on a new master plan that calls for Berkley to create a more compact downtown, add housing across the city and increase park space.

Plans include creating a downtown city plaza with a fountain and amphitheater, building the city's first condos and townhouses, and designing a pathway and park along Coolidge Highway to lure thousands of Beaumont Hospital employees to the city.

Residents will get their first real look at the dramatic plans and a chance to ask questions of city leaders April 8 at an open house at the Berkley Public Library.

The city paid consultant LSL Planning Inc. of Royal Oak $40,000 to study land usage and develop recommendations to revitalize the city and downtown, said city planner Amy Vansen.

"These are projects that would use a lot of the existing fabric, and it's simply a tweaking," Vansen said. "The city has struggled with the fact we have a lot of commercially zoned property. The consultant said we may be overzoned for commercial use, and that's why we have a lot of vacancies."

Recommendations include breaking up the zoning along 12 Mile -- which is mostly commercial from Greenfield to Coolidge -- to attract more retail and cultural businesses and concentrate the downtown area around the former Berkley Theater at 12 Mile and Robina.

Another suggestion involves moving the city's Department of Public Works building and lot off a residential street to the more industrial 11 Mile and building some "live-work" housing in its place. Live-work housing typically has office space on the first level and housing above.

One idea that intrigues resident Tammy Velthoven is the concept of creating a gathering space for Berkley residents and visitors in the form of a civic plaza. Velthoven, 33, who lives less than a block from the downtown area, said she is ready for some changes to come Berkley's way.

"We moved here because we liked that we could walk to everything you need -- the grocery store, the post office," Velthoven said. "I think if you had a gathering place or location, people could see what Berkley has to offer."

The new master plan also calls for a park along Coolidge from Webster to 12 Mile on the same side as Roseland Park Cemetery, and a paved pathway to direct walkers to downtown Berkley.

The answer, resident Barney Bourgeois hopes, lies in creating a downtown and a city people want to come to. Bourgeois and his wife, Amy, moved to Berkley in 1993 because it was family-oriented.

Bourgeois is president of the St. John Woods Homeowners Association.

The 36-year-old would like to see bookstores and coffee shops and an expanded community center.

After the open house, the planning commission will regroup to discuss changes. The Berkley City Council is expected to consider the matter by July.

If the council and commission approve the plan, public hearings will be held in the fall. Final approval is expected in November.