Neighbors taking care of neighbors is the idea behind two new city programs getting under way.

In Ward 2, Alderman Rickey Gray is pulling neighbors together to beautify their streets and help prevent crime.

Meanwhile, the city&8217;s planning department is pinpointing various neighborhoods to help get rid of blighted properties. These &8220;intensive care&8221; neighborhoods would get special attention from the city but also from the residents who live there.

These are great programs with the same concept: If we can do it one street at a time, we can help clean up the entire city &8212; and help keep crime at bay.

Study after study has shown that clean neighborhoods attract clean people.

It&8217;s a concept that incorporates the &8220;tipping point&8221; theory &8212; if one street or even just one building gets cleaned up, it can act as the tipping point to turn the whole neighborhood around.

The neighborhood concept is already at work across the Miss-Lou in Neighborhood Watch programs that allow residents to develop a partnership with the police department that helps keep everyone safe.

Keeping neighborhoods beautiful is a natural complement to stopping crime. We look forward to how these new neighborhood programs improve our city.