Ivy City A Community Shaped by Inequity

Founded over 150 years ago, the Ivy City neighborhood in Washington, DC, became isolated by industrial zoning, rail infrastructure, and highway corridors that concentrated environmental burdens around a predominantly Black community. Decades of underinvestment, limited political leverage, and exclusionary planning decisions restricted access to green space, economic opportunity, and public health resources.

Blue-Green Infrastructure 

By 2050, a 15-year storm could inundate 56 percent of Ivy City, with flooding reaching 4.8 feet at Lewis Crowe Park. Extreme heat days are increasing, and air quality is worsened by traffic and rail infrastructure. For this community, climate risk is already a daily reality. Neighborhood resilience functions as an interconnected system rather than a single site. Integrating conveyance, detention, and cooling strategies across streets, parking lots, and open space, the framework provides 4.2 million gallons of stormwater storage. It reduces projected peak heat stress by half, delivering relief at the neighborhood scale.

Lewis Crowe Park Family Day

Through workshops, surveys, door-to-door outreach, and site interviews, residents defined the project’s priorities: safer parks, expanded tree canopy, improved drainage, cooling access, and investments that protect long-term residents from displacement. Community voice was the first design tool.

Photo Credit: Ivy City Climate Resiliency Strategy, 2025

Concept 1 - The Ivy City Forest

Re-imagined as the Ivy City Forest, Lewis Crowe Park transforms a flood-prone basin into a shaded, high-performing landscape rooted in community identity. Every program element, from the sunflower meadow and community garden to the mural wall and cooling corridor, emerged directly from resident voices heard in the design process.

Inclusive Recreation and Community Hub

The design creates inclusive, restorative spaces shaped by community input. A central plaza supports gathering and quiet reflection, while a Nature Play Oval features cooling mist, flexible lawn, and sunflower meadows for immersive play and environmental learning. Together, these spaces reduce heat and improve neighborhood well-being. Residents said the park felt unsafe and was sometimes closed during the day. The response is direct: a park open all hours, with enhanced lighting, emergency call boxes, and a welcoming gateway facing the neighborhood. A mural wall celebrating Ivy City residents buffers traffic and anchors community identity.

An Urban Oasis for Restoration

In a neighborhood with 11 percent tree canopy, the Ivy City Forest offers something transformative. A native dogwood corridor, sunflower meadow, and bald cypress grove provide shade, habitat, and year-round color, while making rainfall visible as an ecological process.

 Perspective views of the Bald Cypress Grove and Dogwood Corridor: Rainy Fall Day vs. Spring Day

Stormwater Management System & Designing for Thermal Comfort

Capturing 367,150 gallons on site, the park transforms a chronic flood liability into a high-performing stormwater asset. Permeable surfaces and a bald cypress detention garden slow, store, filter, and reuse rainfall to irrigate gardens and supply cooling mist. A sculpture marks the Northeast Boundary Tunnel below, making infrastructure visible. In a neighborhood running nearly a full degree hotter than the district average, every design decision targets heat reduction. Permeable paving, mulch gardens, and 54 proposed trees reduce surface temperatures by 10 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit across zones, while cooling mist provides immediate relief on the open lawn.

 Site Sections of Stormwater Management and Thermal Comfort

Concept 2 - The Ivy City Bower

Bower - A pleasant shady place under trees or climbing plants in a garden. Bower transforms the 26-foot underground Northeast Boundary stormwater tunnel into a shaded, illuminated community landmark and welcoming gateway to Lewis Crowe Park. The design captures rainwater on-site to create a Blue-Green infrastructure learning zone, while reducing noise and pollution from West Virginia Avenue through a raised sidewalk wall, dense native water-loving trees, and a perennial understory.

Safety and comfort are central with benches, lighting, security cameras, emergency call boxes, and community stewardship ensure the space is inviting day and night. Flexible open spaces with lawns and hardscapes accommodate play and community gatherings, while mural artwork by local artists celebrates the neighborhood's rich cultural history. The design also expands the park to include an accessible community garden that maintains access to the below-ground infrastructure.

Park Night View

Flexible Play Plaza