The neighborhood of Pleasant Grove is in the southeast portion of Dallas, Texas. Although unincorporated, Pleasant Grove continues to be known as a separate community, although it’s officially part of Dallas, and receives all of its city services from Dallas.
Now the GrowSouth initiative in Dallas is expanding. Pleasant Grove NOW! is a new effort to revitalize the southeastern sector of the city. Pleasant Grove residents say revitalization is desperately needed, with vacant properties and sterile retail strips abounding.
Dallas city leaders are focusing on those strip malls. with an eye to beautify some and redevelop other into office space that they hope will attract jobs.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said that it’s time to expand his GrowSouth initiative, and he feels Pleasant Grove is the perfect place to do so.
Pleasant Grove NOW! will invest tens of millions of dollars, and Rawlings says there will be a great return on that investment. Construction is expected to get underway as early as 2018.
The GrowSouth map.
GrowSouth is a comprehensive strategy to build a foundation for sustainable growth, and outline five key projects that we believe can jumpstart growth in key areas in the next three years.
The City of Dallas has presented a work plan that supports what they can accomplish as part of “GrowSouth” including short term and long term infrastructure and capital improvements that will support and enhance growth in Southern Dallas.
Southern Dallas represents new potential sales tax revenue from business and development that will strengthen our tax base and help fund vital basics that are the foundation of our city. Today, 55% of our citizens live North of the Trinity, yet that part of our City provides 85% of our tax base or conversely, Southern Dallas is home to 45% of our population yet provides only 15% of our tax base.
Southern Dallas is our greatest single opportunity for growth in North Texas, comprising the greatest inventory of land available in Dallas— encompassing 185 square miles, roughly 54 percent of the city’s area. The entire city of Atlanta can fit into Southern Dallas.
When it comes to growth potential Southern Dallas has the land, the workforce, and the will. But to have true success in southern Dallas, we must 1) focus on quality of life, 2) set short-term and long-term goals, 3) attract new investment and 4) celebrate our successes. We are all in this together, so our whole city should be excited when good things happen. This will go a long way toward changing the image and perception of development in southern Dallas, and it will build confidence and drive additional investment.
The plan started with ten goals that focused on people, investments and locations to drive economic growth.
The foundational briefing presented to Dallas City Council in February 2012 laid out a framework for focus areas and created a set of expectations tied to their potential for growth. Each focus area requires a customized approach to a unique set of opportunities and challenges.
The strategy is focused on boosting confidence in the local future, as recommended in the Resilience Success Guide. Neighborhoods must receive a critical mass of new investment to change market perceptions, so each focus area has a core investment area and a detailed improvement plan. The core investment area is the area most likely to grow in the next two-to-five years.
Featured photo of vacant grocery store in Pleasant Grove by Randy Carlisle.