Community volunteers, new partnerships, and native plants help the District grow greener and stronger.
This spring, the NEON District took another step forward in stormwater resilience and neighborhood beautification with support from the City of Norfolk’s Retain Your Rain mini-grant program. Focused on one of the most flood-prone intersections in the city—Boush Street and Olney Road—the project enhanced nine tree wells with native, salt-tolerant plants and improved soil, helping mitigate flooding while adding visual vibrancy to the corridor. These improvements reflect the NEON District’s creative identity and long-standing commitment to sustainability, first demonstrated with the original Retain Your Rain pilot project in 2016.
The planting effort, powered by a volunteer day April 5, brought together community members, local businesses, and residents to care for a space they use daily. Beyond beautification, the project reinforces how green infrastructure can be both functional and engaging—inviting people to become stewards of their streets. With hundreds of new residents moving into NEON, the project also lays a foundation for long-term engagement, education, and pride in a neighborhood where innovation and resilience go hand in hand.
In preparation for the planting day, Downtown Norfolk Council partnered closely with the City of Norfolk’s Parks and Recreation Department and Office of Resilience to create a landscape plan and gather supplies. We were also thrilled to deepen our relationships with Volunteer Hampton Roads and the Norfolk Master Gardeners—two newer partners who brought incredible value to the project. Volunteer Hampton Roads helped recruit 42 participants from across the city, while eight Master Gardeners supervised the plantings and shared best practices with volunteers. Most volunteers came from outside the NEON District, making this project a meaningful way to expand our reach and introduce more people to the important work happening in Downtown Norfolk.
