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Come Nov. 19, the Town of Herndon could have a blueprint for a whole new downtown.

Last week, Pittsburgh-based Urban Design Associates met both publicly and privately with members of Herndon's Town Council, staff and residents to get a feel for what is possible in a town where recent large-scale commercial proposals to revitalize the downtown have been shot down.

On Oct. 7, the firm, which was contracted to come up with a detailed proposal for a 10-block area within the downtown, held a "Downtown Master Plan Workshop" with approximately 80 town residents, property holders and business owners attending.

One anticipated part of the overall plan, according to Town Councilman Richard Downer, is to come up with development ideas for the Pines Shopping Center, owned by the Richmond Corporation. The shopping center has been the subject of council redevelopment talk for a long time.

"Tonight is all about learning what's going on in Herndon," said Paul Ostergaard, a principal with UDA. "What distinguishes Herndon from surrounding towns?" He noted the downtown buildings with "integrity and history," an "interesting infrastructure" and a "streetscape somewhat charming but also dysfunctional."

Ostergaard pointed out that while the downtown contains preferred commercially zoned areas, it also has "scattered buildings without much definition resulting in unused space in the downtown."

Last fall, a proposal by Diamond Properties to build a five-story Element hotel in the downtown area did not materialize, but it did lend a spark to the idea of a revitalized downtown, which led the Town Council to develop a master plan for the downtown area.

Many feel if the downtown is not redeveloped, it will die. However, some residents feel that although Herndon is in desperate need of revitalization, it should not lose its small-town feel in the process.

"Herndon neighborhoods have a feel to them that you can't manufacture," said councilman Downer at the Oct. 7 workshop.

"We have a local identity," resident Jennifer Woofter added. "We are not just another suburb on your way to the sticks."

Workshop attendees were broken into three groups and asked to come up with the town's perceived strengths, weaknesses and areas in need of change. They were then asked to mark their answers on a Herndon map with red stickers for weaknesses, green for strengths, and blue for areas in need of change.

The gamut ran from the very specific to the abstract. The W &OD Trail, for example, was almost unanimously listed by all as a plus. Some less tangent ideas were also brought forward, such as the town's apparent inability to attract a night crowd. At the end of the evening, Ostergaard and his associates took all the information and promised to come back on Nov. 19 with a detailed master plan.