WFAA-TV

DALLAS — One woman called it a "victory" for her neighborhood.

On Friday morning, the City of Dallas put bulldozers and demolition crews to work tearing down two dilapidated houses that area residents said were havens for illegal drug activity.

It was a day that was long in coming for this neighborhood of mostly well-kept homes at Crest and Elmore avenues in Oak Cliff.

Neighbors said they had complained for years about what was happening at the two run-down buildings.

Esther Mae Guthrie said she had been ready to take decisive action. "As of a few weeks ago, I thought about moving out," she said. "The first of this week, I thought about moving out because they broke in my garage again—but i'm going to stick it out."

The city moved to eradicate the neighborhood blight only after documenting years of repeated code violations and complaints.

E-mail jfarmer@wfaa.com