Neglecting housing quality, parks and neighborhoods practically begs the destruction of traditional family life. Weeds will choke out healthy plants. Some line items the city cannot afford not to fund. But this is an instance where a few thousand dollars will almost assuredly save city taxpayers money in years to come. Luring homeowners into the city is a critical key to raising the tax base.
Owners have a stake in increasing the value of their properties.
They generally have more income, which benefits merchants and makes new businesses more viable. Likewise, money spent on efforts to enforce city property codes can't help but pay off and save city taxpayers money in the long run. Trashy properties tend not to assess real well. And it probably can afford to be scaled back significantly. That, I know, assigns government credit for a lot of creative thought and cleverness, so perhaps this notion is not worthy of pursuit.