Uptown is little more than a blur of rundown buildings for the thousands of motorists who whiz by each day.

Lacking the storied history of the nearby Hill District, Uptown's blight doesn't even merit the occasional empty promise from politicians vowing to turn things around.

"The neighborhood is a little tucked-away place no one pays attention to," said James Simon, a sculptor who lives and works in Uptown -- also known as The Bluff and Soho.

"But it's five minutes to Downtown, five minutes to Oakland, five minutes to the South Side. It's a pretty spectacular location."

With little fanfare, things are starting to happen there.

Businesses are moving in. Dilapidated buildings are being renovated or razed. Community groups are collaborating on a plan to revitalize a once-vibrant and teeming working-class neighborhood.

"That's the beauty of Uptown," said Chip Fetrow, who is building lofts in a former gas company building along Fifth Avenue. "The buildings, for now, are dirt cheap. It's one of the better-kept secrets in the city."

So much for secrets.

Duquesne University has drawn attention to the area with its plan to build a block-long $70 million complex of retail, housing and university buildings along Forbes Avenue across from the campus.

Construction is scheduled to begin in September.

The Penguins have been meeting with Uptown business owners to discuss the team's plans for a new arena. The Penguins declined to comment, but business owners say the plans include additional retail and housing in the neighborhood.

The neighborhood has its share of problems: More than 20 percent of the city's prostitution arrests in 2003 were in Uptown; business owners can point to the buildings where drug dealing occurs.

Shortly after buying his building, Fetrow remembers having to sweep away hypodermic needles from the sidewalk.

"That's a culture shock," said Fetrow, who moved to Uptown from Franklin Park.

Jon Kasunic said he remembers the reactions when he first told people he was moving his business, SunKing Interactive Group, to Uptown from the South Side.

"Honestly, both vendors and work associates in the Pittsburgh market would say, 'Where are you going? That's crazy. Why are you going over there?'" he said.

A year later, Kasunic said he's more than happy with his company's new neighborhood and new office -- in an extensively renovated typography studio on Gist Street.

"It's a personality thing," he said. "I was tired of the trendiness and the pseudo-hipness of the South Side. It's a breath of fresh air over here."

A few doors down from SunKing, Simon's studio home hosts a monthly reading series. Between art openings, the reading series and other events at his home, Simon said he has brought thousands of visitors to Uptown.

"A lot of people thought I was out of my mind," Simon said of his initial desire to buy his old building, once a junk warehouse. "But there's a lot of great buildings. You have to be able to realize their potential."

Simon's current project is a 25-foot-tall public art piece that will go on the side of one of Duquesne University's buildings on Forbes Avenue.

"It's kind of a celebration of the Uptown neighborhood," he said.

Duquesne has started demolishing the buildings across from the campus to make way for its project. University President Charles Dougherty said it calls for a bookstore, coffee shop, pharmacy and possibly a restaurant, in addition to student housing and other university buildings.

"Hardly anyone can visit the campus without traveling around Forbes Avenue, and up until we began demolition of those buildings, the first impression of many people was blight," he said. "We're trying to basically clean up our front door."

Over on the other end of Uptown, Education Innovations Inc. is trying to clean up another area. The organization plans to build NatureLAB Community, a greenhouse, classrooms and several raised-bed gardens, on an abandoned lot on Fifth Avenue near Wyandotte Street as part of its larger plans for a new charter school, said Chief Executive Officer Sal Wilcox.

Wilcox said he would like to have NatureLAB Community opened in time to offer summer programs for students.

"We want to take this empty lot and convert it from the community garbage can ... to an asset and an anchor for the community," he said.

With projects springing up across the neighborhood, community groups felt it was time to put together a plan for Uptown.

A first meeting to discuss the community action agenda for Uptown will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Miryam's Kitchen, 1410 Fifth Ave.