I hope many of you read the six-day kickoff to our "Bridging Dallas' North-South Gap" project . A special thanks to everyone who already has taken the time to offer feedback. (Please keep those e-mails coming to southerndallas
@dallasnews.com.)

In addition to praise, we received a number of excellent questions and concerns from readers. Here are the ones voiced most frequently:

I see plenty of problems in my neighborhood, and the city won't do anything about them. Can you help?

Yes, we can in big and small ways. Our ongoing "10 drops in a bucket" project will return to the Editorial Page this weekend, and we encourage you to send us examples of things that need fixing to southerndallas@dallasnews.com for consideration. Just as important, we will continue to advocate on behalf of all of southern Dallas for large investments of city resources in such areas as code enforcement and animal control.

But there's also a lot you can do, too. Dolphin Heights Neighborhood Association president Anna Hill said it best in a recent Viewpoints column. She and her neighbors didn't sit back waiting for the cavalry to arrive. They organized and started doing the work themselves. They've called on City Hall and other resources when they run into things they can't manage alone, but they also recognize that the people living in these neighborhoods bear much of the responsibility for their turnaround.

What steps have you taken to get your problem corrected? Have you called 311 to report problems to the city? What about 911 regarding crimes? Talk to your neighbors about forming a neighborhood association, setting up a crime-watch group or planning a Saturday cleanup. Call your City Council member. After all, that elected official reports to you.

If your council member isn't responsive, remember that the next time you vote.

Bottom line: The sooner people stop accepting the situation as it is, the sooner the city will be prodded into action.

Why should citizens in the northern part of the city sacrifice resources to help the south?

For starters, it's the right thing to do. But if the moral argument – that we have collectively created a divided city that doesn't treat all of its residents equally – isn't sufficient, get on board for the sake of your bank account.

A recent Dallas Morning News editorial put it this way: With the north reaching build-out, southern Dallas and its undeveloped land represent untapped potential. Bolstering this area will enhance the North Texas economy, ensuring that this region has a vibrant center in Dallas -- not a hollow core.

It makes fiscal sense for the southern half to provide a larger share of the tax base.

You complained that some people have never stepped foot in southern Dallas. Why would I go there if I don't live there?

Fair question. And that's one of the things we're pushing to change. Part of what southern Dallas needs is the amenities that attract people from other parts of the city and the region. An entertainment zone, restaurants, shopping -- we're talking about improvements that are both good for the people who live there and good for the people who don't.

Far too many people think only of blight when they think of southern Dallas. But once you take a close look, as we have, you'll realize that the southern half of our city has a lot going for it -- whether it be the good deals on land, the pastoral, (dare we say serene?) atmosphere, the rolling hills and not-to-be-believed trees, plus an easier commute for many folks.

Don't you think that the media have created misperceptions about southern Dallas and crime?

To some degree that's probably true – although that certainly wasn't the intent. In fact, over the decades, The News has covered North Dallas crimes much more extensively. And we've noted repeatedly that some of the worst pockets of crime are actually north of Interstate 30.

I would argue that the issue is not so much crime but overall image: The media have been much more negligent of not playing up the positives of southern Dallas than of over-emphasizing the negatives.

Other people have tried and failed to improve southern Dallas neighborhoods. What makes you think you will have any more success?

Two words: stubbornness and timing. We believe this is an issue that deserves unwavering attention and have publicly pledged that ours will be a sustained voice of advocacy for southern Dallas.

We also believe the economic and political climates favor success. Northern Dallas is built out, and, for that reason alone, we don't believe this city and its residents will allow the southern half to continue to stagnate. We also believe the current mayor, City Council and city staff are genuinely committed to closing the north-south gap.

Why are you focusing on five neighborhoods to the exclusion of all others? What about where I live?

We won't exclude anyone and will continue to advocate for changes that will help all of southern Dallas. Plus our "10 Drops in the Bucket" will expose problems throughout the southern half.

As to the focus on five neighborhoods, our initial list included dozens of worthy bases of opportunity. We would have liked to have picked 20 or 25 but knew our manpower wouldn't sustain that many neighborhoods. So we went with five that have unique potential and fall into various regions of southern Dallas. Our hope is that success will radiate out in concentric circles and bring a better quality of life to many additional areas.

What's the Belo agenda behind this project? Does Belo own land in southern Dallas?

Our agenda is a vibrant, growing southern Dallas where residents want to live and work and where the gap in measures of success is closed between the north and the south. A big assignment, but one we're determined to execute relentlessly. (And, yes, we'd love it if more people started reading our newspaper to see how this project fares.)

As far as A.H. Belo/The Dallas Morning News' land in southern Dallas, the bosses in the Belo tower confirm that we own only two parcels there. One is our South Plant property on Langdon Road. We also own 98 acres of undeveloped land at Interstate 20 and J.J. Lemmon Road that we acquired in the mid-1990s with the original intent of building the plant there. During the design phase, the company decided the Langdon Road site, about a half-mile south of the first site, was better for our needs, so we acquired that property with the plan to sell the first acreage.

Do you plan to write more about education in southern Dallas? Nothing will change unless schools improve.

Absolutely true. The two main long-term issues for southern Dallas are education and income levels. Lasting solutions cannot omit either of them. Thus, some of our measurements involve areas specific to public school students' success. We also will monitor how the bond money benefits the southern schools and how that affects achievements.

And in light of statistics that show only 13 percent of southern Dallas residents have a bachelor's degree, we will focus on the various colleges there – the University of North Texas at Dallas, Paul Quinn College and Mountain View and Cedar Valley community colleges.

What about gentrification? If you improve neighborhoods too much, people will be priced out of where they live.

That is going to be a key issue we wrestle with going forward. Development will bring change; some of it that will be good, and some will push people to move. But we believe that some of that is necessary for the greater good of southern Dallas and, ultimately, the city. We also believe that so much undeveloped and underdeveloped land exists that much can be done without displacing anyone.

The model we would like to see is along the lines of what's happened in Oak Cliff from Kessler Park south beyond Stevens Park Golf Course. Many of those homes turned over to new owners, who have done a lot of great work on them and raised the property values for everyone. Now that's great if you own there, but not so great if you rent or are looking to buy in.

I'll close with one of my favorite e-mails among the dozens received regarding "Bridging Dallas' North-South Gap." Raymond Crawford, who lives near Kiest Park in Oak Cliff, writes:

Could you please feature the Dallas North-South project on the home page of the web site? It should have a high level of visibility like the other categories. … This is such an important topic that cannot be ignored. It would also keep the city's leaders' feet to the fire.

I hope readers will keep all of our feet to the fire on southern Dallas – starting with mine.

Sharon Grigsby is deputy editorial page editor of The Dallas Morning News. Her e-mail address is sgrigsby@dallasnews.com.