Norfolk’s $400 Million Blue Greenway Project to Transform Flood-Prone Neighborhood and Capture Stormwater Runoff

A $400 million climate project aims to reimagine a flood-prone neighborhood in Norfolk, Virginia, using a linear park to capture storm water runoff. The project, named the Blue Greenway, aims to transform the housing, layout and vibe of a poor, majority Black community along the city’s neglected east-side waterfront. The cost tag of up to $60 million will be covered by city dollars and federal grants. Construction is likely to begin next spring, but landscape architect Tim Stromberg has been working with a team of engineers, environmental scientists, architects and other specialists for several years to turn a liability, stormwater runoff, into an asset. Most of the project will flow through the footprint of Tidewater Gardens, built in the early 1950s atop a tidal creek and a network of wetlands.