Nine years later, Dennis Champine can still remember the Mayor of Warren doodling changes for City Hall on a piece of paper.

Champine, Warren's community relations coordinator, said the drawing was just the beginning of the city's mission to establish a downtown urban atmosphere.

"It really isn't a plan anymore," Champine said. "We're creating a downtown."

As East Lansing officials compile plans to bring a "village" identity to the Cedar Village area, other cities around the state have already begun construction on similar projects.

What used to be a large parking lot and grassy area near Warren City Hall is already being transformed, Champine said. The project, which broke ground in August, calls for a pedestrian-friendly civic center that includes a new City Hall, skating rink, fountain, concert lawn, library and retail space.

"We're well on our way to becoming one of Michigan's great downtown centers," Champine said. "I know this is really going to change people's perception of the city of Warren."

Although there were some naysayers in the infancy of the project, Champine said the majority of the community believes the development is an investment in Warren's future.

"We didn't want to become an outer-ring community of Detroit that failed," he said.

Champine said city officials decided to construct the downtown with tall buildings close together to increase land efficiency.

"If communities aren't thinking about the urban environment, then they're missing the boat," he said.

The biggest trend in urban development is that it hasn't slowed suburbanization, said Joe Darden, MSU professor of urban geography. "Sprawl is still increasing continuously," he said.

Darden said many town centers are lifeless after 6 p.m., and the key to keeping people around is to provide housing.

When East Lansing planner Tim Dempsey lived in Royal Oak in the mid-1990s, he said he started to see a trend in the city's use of housing and retail to create a walkable, urban community.

"When you are exposed to urban life ? you realize what you miss or could be a part of," said Dempsey, who is also a former Saginaw downtown development authority director. He said one of Saginaw's main initiatives was to bring a diverse group of people to live in the city.

"Economically, (Saginaw) has a lot of challenges, but there is a lot going for it," Dempsey said.

He said the city plans to attract more students to the area by turning vacant buildings into retail and apartment complexes.

But some Michigan residents are concerned about the congestion and increase in population that town centers could cause.

A number of residents in Acme Township, outside of Traverse City, have voiced opposition against a plan to create a downtown in the middle of the rural area.

Replacing grass fields and a non-operating cherry orchard, the 182-acre development calls for a Meijer supermarket, commercial buildings and 800 housing units.

"Even though this is essentially a suburb of Traverse City, a lot of people identify it as a small town," said John Hull, Acme zoning administrator. "Generally people want something smaller that they feel will fit in with a rural community."

Officials said the 4,300-person town lacks diversity, and is mainly comprised of farmers and older people. But finding a unified vision hasn't been easy for Acme.

A group of residents sued the town when the original plan passed and said it would cause an increase in sprawl.

The overall controversy surrounding the plan has created tension among its residents, said Herb Smith, Acme planning commission chairman.

"It's unfortunate that things have gotten out of hand," Smith said. "It's become quite an emotional thing."

Smith said the Grand Traverse Area is one of the fastest growing regions in the state, and the town center would help confine commercial development as the city tries to preserve farm land.

"Development is going to come - you're not going to stop it," he said. "But you can manage it."