Economic Development, Crime Issues Dominate Dallas Council Race in Pleasant Grove

Pleasant Grove has plenty of room to grow.And three City Council candidates — former Dallas ISD trustee Jaime Resendez, former Park Board member Yolanda Williams and entrepreneur Ruth Torres — see potential in the area's existing businesses and empty and underused land.There are vacant lots that sit along the stretch of U.S. Highway 175 between Lake June Road and South Buckner Boulevard. And there’s hope for some redevelopment or beautification near a heavily-trafficked intersection of Elam Road and South Buckner — where Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s Green Line ends in southeast Dallas — that is surrounded by patches of undeveloped land and a swath of auto-related businesses.But the reality is that businesses largely haven’t flocked to Pleasant Grove, which has a long-standing reputation of being unsafe and unkempt — a place where people grow up and get out.“We have to go to Mesquite to do our shopping and our eating. Anything recreational, we have to leave the neighborhood,” said Emily Vann, a 26-year-old who has lived in the area since she was a baby.  Continue reading...