We’ve all seen them, then sighed or shook our heads &045; eyesores like broken sidewalks, trash in gutters, overgrown lots.

Whose fault is it? We could point fingers in a dozen directions, from the careless motorist who tosses a can from a car to the property owner who doesn’t cut the grass.

Rather than point fingers, though, we just want to see someone correct the problems and make our city as clean as can be.

Natchez is a town balancing the interests of two economic sectors &045; tourism and industry, and both depend on maintaining a clean, well-kept community.

Take downtown, for instance. This weekend, we have had visitors and residents alike touring shops, houses and the convention center during two major events &045; a wildlife expo and a food festival.

Several areas &045; where brick or recently laid sidewalks are clean &045; look enticing to these visitors.

Then, in the next block over, weeds are growing between cracks in the concrete.

So we’re not talking about every inch of downtown. But, for that matter, why isn’t every inch landscaped and neat?

Attracting tourists and industry demands that we put on our best face, not only during Pilgrimage but throughout the entire year.

We sympathize with city officials coping with a tight budget, but we think government and private entities can work together to come up with creative solutions.

Over the next few days, we’ll be looking at these eyesores &045; and looking at solutions, from local residents and from other communities coping with the same problems.

In a community suffering from huge job losses, &uot;curb appeal&uot; might seem like a trivial detail. But anything that affects our economy these days is far from trivial.