Many Dallas residents were unhappy when the city changed their trash pickup from the alley to the front curb. The Peninsula Neighborhood is a prime example of a neighborhood who decided to fight back. Now, it seems they have won.

According to an e–mail from Mary Nix, director of sanitation services, the votes were tallied last night and, out of the 70 percent of ballots that were returned, 76 percent of Peninsula Neighborhood residents voted to return trash pickup to the alley. If you recall, Nix said 75.1 percent of residents would have to vote yes for the alley for service to be resumed, so it looks like they just squeaked by.

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In the e-mail, Nix stated that each residence must be notified of the date that alley service will resume before any changes can be made. However, if that can be accomplished this week, she said alley pickup should resume Friday in the “demonstration alleys”—meaning alleys that have met all the city’s requirements in terms of clearing extra space and putting in insets for trash bins where needed. As more alleys come into compliance, trash service will completely transition back to the alleys.

Read more after the jump.

A few weeks ago, Chip Northrup, a Peninsula Neighborhood resident, told me that he thought the Peninsula Neighborhood would serve as an example of what it will take to get trash pickup moved back into the alley in other parts of Dallas.

“Now you have a sense of what other old East Dallas neighborhoods are faced with,” he said, in another e-mail following the vote count.

Apparently, he was right.

“Other neighborhoods may be asking to ‘tour’ your alleys soon, as they want to see what the city designated as ‘acceptable,’” Nix advised Peninsula Neighborhood residents in her e-mail.

Any Dallas residents who want to talk about getting their alley service resumed should contact the sanitation department. They may also want to head over to the Peninsula Neighborhood to get a sense of what how much work may lie ahead.

Editor’s note: Freelancer Elizabeth Elliott’s story "Alley oops?"will appear in the April Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate. This blog series expands on the piece.