Somebody Who Cares Lives Here

“Milneburg had always been known as a tree-lined neighborhood,” said Dr. Vera Triplett, as she looked out to the neutral ground on Elysian Fields, but Hurricane Katrina destroyed numerous trees and scattered the population, which she describes as racially and socio-economically diverse.

Today, Milneburg’s neutral grounds are coming back to life, thanks to the dedication and vision of her residents. The Milneburg Neighborhood Association applied for a GNOF “Plans Into Action” grant to create and implement a landscaping master plan for the neutral grounds. These one-time grants fund projects that are called for in the Unified New Orleans Plan, and now, the MNA has put $30,000 to work to beautify the Gentilly neighborhood bordered by Elysian Fields, St. Roch, Mexico, and Filmore.
They commissioned welcome signs and hired Landscape Images to develop a design for the four corner entrances and the neutral grounds along Robert E. Lee and Prentiss.

“Vera wanted to use a diversity of trees—to represent the diversity of the neighborhood,” said Jeannette Roussell of Landscape Images. Now, a host of “survival trees”—trees that proved their mettle during the storm—line the neutral grounds, and landscaped entrances welcome visitors and residents.

Shannon Blue, president of the Milneburg Neighborhood Association, recognizes the difference the changes are making: “Now when people drive up, they think, ‘Hey, there is life here. This is a neighborhood that is growing. Somebody who cares lives here.’ ”