Residents in one Mercer County neighborhood say their streets are consistently filled with trash and debris due to absentee landlords owning most properties and a deep lack of pride in the area.

Several blocks in Trenton, including Walnut, South Walter and Cuyler avenues, as well as Wilbur and Monmouth streets, are defined by the prevalence of abandoned buildings, crumbling foundations and piles of garbage and debris. Neighbors in the community say the properties are not maintained because owners and landlords don?t live in the buildings. News 12 New Jersey found some homes owned by their occupants that had new construction and landscaped property.

Willie Powell, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1963, says each resident should pitch in and help clean up the yards and alleyways littered with trash. Powell says the city should raze the abandoned buildings to help improve the area.

According to officials, the city has torn down several crumbling buildings in the area, but with the current economic crisis, knocking down all the buildings that need to be demolished is too costly.