There’s something counterintuitive about pruning — the cutting away of parts of a plant to make it more productive. Yet, farmers who are adept at it can testify to the power of a pruned tree or bush to bear bushels of fruit.

Ranchers and game managers adhere to the same principle; they call it thinning the herd.

Aesthetics are a secondary concern. The intention is for all that trimming and thinning today to promote healthy growth tomorrow.

Such is the case also with urban management.

Butler is winding down a decade-long blight removal program, which has been so effective in removing its blighted properties that it is running out of structures to demolish.

The city’s blighted building removal program demolished seven buildings in 2013, about half as many as it did the previous year when it tore down 15.

John Evans, the city’s zoning and code official, says the dip in numbers is not due to a straying interest, but rather is evidence the program is working. To put it simply, we’re running out of bad buildings to tear down.

The success of the program is noteworthy. It takes resolve — and about 18 months of legal procedure — to condemn and tear down each blighted property.

But tearing down buildings shouldn’t be the goal. New growth should be the goal.

To that end, the city is continuing to recognize home and business owners for preservation and renovation of their properties.

And the much-anticipated Centre City project, about to break ground, represents one of the largest commercial developments in the downtown’s history.

Pruning is, among other things, an act of faith. A pruned plant bears fruit. It’s as simple as that.

Let’s have faith that a pruned community does likewise.