The Community Appearance Index, also known as the Litter Index, is a tool designed by Keep America Beautiful to visually evaluate the overall appearance of a community using litter as an indicator. Every year, 60 routes throughout the five wards of Norfolk are analyzed to determine the cleanliness of the city. After a thorough training, a team of volunteers conduct the analysis using a scoring system ranging from 1-4 with “1” indicating minimal to no litter and “4” indicating extremely littered. Methodology for this process includes recruiting volunteers who commit to attend a one-and-a-half-day Community Appearance Index scan. Each volunteer is thoroughly trained on the index to accurately and consistently survey a statistical sample of the city. The results of the scan are then averaged to produce the City of Norfolk Community Appearance Index score.

This dataset is updated annually; the data begins in 2010. The Litter Index survey is normally conducted in August; the 2020 survey will be delayed due to COVID-19.

In 2022, Keep Norfolk Beautiful received a grant from Litterati to participate in the City Fingerprint Project. Litterati is a global litter data science company that records, analyzes, and provides insights into litter hotspots worldwide. Through the City Fingerprint Project, Litterati focused on observing and recording litter data in specific and repeatable locations in Norfolk through the Spring, Summer, and Fall of 2022 in order to provide a baseline of where litter is in Norfolk and what type is litter appears in the City. This dataset contains the litter that was observed during this project.

This dataset is a one-time data release and will not be updated.

In 2022, Keep Norfolk Beautiful received a grant from Litterati to participate in the City Fingerprint Project. Litterati is a global litter data science company that records, analyzes, and provides insights into litter hotspots worldwide. Through the City Fingerprint Project, Litterati focused on observing and recording litter data in specific and repeatable locations in Norfolk through the Spring, Summer, and Fall of 2022 in order to provide a baseline of where litter is in Norfolk and what type is litter appears in the City. This dataset contains the distance in meters that were walked at each project location during each project phase (Spring, Summer, Fall). It also includes the number of objects of litter per meter that were observed during this project.

This dataset is a one-time data release and will not be updated.