NoMa Parks Launches New Planning and Community Engagement Website

March 17, 2016

The NoMa Parks Foundation, an affiliate of the NoMa Business Improvement District, announced today the launch of a new planning and community engagement website, ImagineNoMaParks.org. The website, a site on the mySidewalk platform, will enable the Foundation to both share and solicit more information from residents as design on two park sites, the NoMa Green and the 3^rd and L Street NE park, begins in earnest this spring and summer.

“As we start designing these two parks, we want to increase our ability to exchange ideas with all the folks interested in NoMa parks,” said Robin-Eve Jasper, President of the NoMa Parks Foundation. “Initially, we thought that park-specific design charrettes, our Community Conversations, presentations to civic groups and the NoMa Parks Foundation website would be enough.  But then we found this great extra tool for asking questions and sharing ideas and images.”

People can share their ideas and respond to questions about NoMa Green at imaginenomaparks.org. The site will begin to feature the 3^rd and L Street Park in the coming weeks. The site will feature polls, open-ended questions, photo-sharing opportunities, and updates on the design process.

There are more than 36,000 people living in the greater NoMa neighborhood today, and more than 7,000 new homes in the near-term pipeline. The residents, workers, and visitors of NoMa have long desired parks and green spaces, and this new engagement website will work in tandem with public meetings to solicit the input necessary to generate park designs.

Since its formation in 2012, the Foundation’s mission has been to provide welcoming, sustainable, and beautiful public spaces where people can play, refresh and connect in NoMa. The Foundation acquired the parcel that will become the 3^rd and L Street Park in October 2015 and the parcel that will become the NoMa Green in December 2015.

About NoMa

NoMa is a vibrant, growing mixed-use neighborhood nestled among Union Station, the U.S. Capitol, Shaw, Union Market and the H Street, NE corridor in Washington, D.C. Already, NoMa has more than 17.6 million SF of office, hotel, retail, and residential space. Each day, 111,000 people are out and about in the commercial core of NoMa. More than 38 percent of NoMa’s office space is home to private sector tenants, including a concentration of media, tech, and think tanks such as NPR, Google, XM Sirius, and Mathematica. Through a public-private partnership with the District Government and a capital investment of $50 million, NoMa will soon have great new parks and public spaces as well. This is especially important since NoMa is now home to 3,836 new apartments, and more than 54,000 people work here each day. NoMa is the most connected neighborhood in Washington, D.C. With its unparalleled transportation access by way of Amtrak, VRE, MARC, two Red Line Metro stops, and vehicular access to Interstate 395, visitors, workers, and residents can easily travel throughout the region as well as get to New York or anywhere on the East Coast. NoMa has an enviable WalkScore of 92 and offers stellar biking facilities, including the 8-mile Metropolitan Branch Trail. The NoMa BID organizes more than 50 free award-winning community events each year, connecting more than 20,000 friends and neighbors. For more information about NoMa, visit www.nomabid.org and sign up for our bimonthly newsletter. Follow us on Twitter @NoMaBID and like us on Facebook.

About NoMa Parks

The NoMa Parks Foundation was formed in 2012 to establish welcoming, sustainable, beautiful spaces where people can play, refresh and connect in NoMa, now and for generations to come.

The rapid transformation of NoMa into a true mixed-use, urban neighborhood has highlighted the importance of creating great parks and public spaces. More than 36,000 people live within 4/5 of a mile of First and M Streets, NE, and the population is projected to double in the next 10 years. However, publicly-accessible parks, playgrounds, and plazas in the area are severely limited. In 2014, the NoMa Parks Foundation and the DC government started a public-private partnership to build parks and great public spaces in NoMa.  We have acquired 2 public park sites to date and have plans for publicly-accessible parks on private spaces.  Two major art installations are planned for the train underpasses on M and L Streets.  Stay tuned for more excitement to come!

Media Contact:
Johnny Chang
Marketing Director
202-810-0088
jchang@nomabid.org