Dunwoody is in need of a town center.

At least that's the feeling of most people who responded to a city survey on long range planning in Dunwoody Village.

"Dunwoody has always had a very strong sense of identity," said Eric Bosman, with Urban Collage, an Atlanta-based urban design firm. "But what we've heard people say is it's missing the physical place. A lot of people really like the Dunwoody village but they are missing that gathering space."

Plans for how to build that are being mulled over by the public and city, and will be looked at by real estate developers and development analysts as well.

Thursday, the city held the second of three open houses for the public, explaining six different options for revamping the city's center and asking for feedback.

Representatives from the design firm were on hand and displays of different options for both the Dunwoody Village and Georgetown areas were up.

Through the afternoon interested residents, a few city employees and several members city council strolled through.

For Dunwoody resident Barbara Ardell the issue is walkability.

"We walk a lot, we're really excited about having a destination that is within a nice walking distance," she said.

Ardell said she and her husband moved to Atlanta from Cincinnati, a city she says has very walkable neighborhoods.

"That's kind of what we've been missing and looking for," she said. "The Dunwoody Village is moving toward that, making it a real town, not the suburban sprawl."

The six different options shown Thursday are various combinations of retail, public green space, public squares, city buildings and/or residential.

"What these six different design depict is the short- and mid-term visions about where to put community green space, to make the village more walkable and to encourage high quality development," said Bosman.

While the city will have to rely on others to follow that plan, there are things it can do to help move things forward.

"This plans informs what types of improvements are designed and how short term steps feed into and implement the bigger term vision," Bosman said. "The second thing they do is when you have private developers come in and say, 'I want to do something in this area,' the city already has an image and a vision for what they want to create. The city is in a much more proactive stance to say, 'Here are the types of things we are looking for because this is the type of environment our community wants to create.'"

Michael Starling, director of economic development for the city, said the plan is coming through at the right time. Developers haven't been investing lately in projects, so the city can get ahead of the game by having a plan already in place.

Once approved by the council, he'll begin contacting developers about the project.

Starling said he doubts the city will have to offer much if any economic incentives for developers.

"We think the market is going to take care of itself for most of this," he said.

The six options will be on display at city hall until the final public meeting in January. Residents are encouraged to stop by city hall to look at the plans and give feedback.

The homepage for the Dunwoody Village plan.