Mayor Corey O'Connor repeatedly made a campaign promise to get more families into the city. He is hoping to get more properties cleaned up and back into the hands of people and groups who can contribute to growth.

Currently, the city has 650 clean and lien properties. These are properties that are overgrown and full of debris. 

After three violations from the city are not dealt with, the city can go and clean it up and place a lien on the property. Council Member Bob Charland says it's a problem in Knoxville, where the highest number of children live, in all 90 neighborhoods.

"You see a lot of our lots like this and just have not been maintained for years. We have never had adequate investment in this part of the city," Council Member Charland said.

This one has been an issue for years. Public works crews say it will be littered with debris and tall weeds once we get to summer. They are doing a blitz to address several properties across the city. Mayor O'Connor wants to push for more demos and work like this to make properties more attractive for home and property buyers.

"Now you have somebody who can build a house at a reasonable price, and they can sell it. It's affordable, and you have homeownership. That's the goal for how we are going to rebuild our neighborhoods," Mayor O' Connor said.

The hope is that once you get this debris and weeds out of a neighborhood, it helps to instill pride and push for investments. Then it can plant the seeds for organic growth.

"When we talk about rebuilding neighborhoods, it starts with views and images and making sure people take pride in their community," Mayor O'Connor said.

Just a block over from this property is a property that public works said was a mess. Now it's currently being worked on and fixed up.