Sometimes, the little things in life are the most important.

Lots of “little” things in downtown Natchez are important, but often overlooked.

Things such as cracked sidewalks and clutter in the streets are easy to overlook when you live here each day.

Walking or driving past clutter or unkempt surroundings may catch your attention on the first or second pass. But after a few trips, the problems can become accepted as just the way things are.

While much of the clutter we’ve often aimed to get rid of in our historic downtown is at street level, we were happy this week as city leaders looked up.

Natchez aldermen took the important first step of working with Entergy Mississippi to begin eliminating the overhead clutter of wires that crisscross historic downtown.

As City Engineer David Gardner said such planning takes some long-term vision.

“If not, we’re going to have a spaghetti bowl of above-ground wires.”

He was speaking about the area along the top of the bluff, eventually feeding any development at Roth Hill, too.

But we think planning to get rid of the overhead utility lines in downtown is an excellent project and one that will take a partnership between the City of Natchez, Entergy and downtown business owners.

The wires overhead are thin and may be taken for granted, but imagine how much more beautiful some of our historic properties would be without the black lines crossing in front.

It’s a little thing, but it’s of high importance for improving the value and charm of downtown Natchez.