SAN ANTONIO -- Dustin McDonald moved to San Antonio's Northwest side for the beautiful hills.

"I love living here, it's great neighborhood," said McDonald.

But the slope failure earlier this year in the Hills of Rivermist and Rivermist neighborhoods was not what he and his neighbors bargained for.

"The hills are what attracted people to the neighborhood and now it's what doesn't attract people. It pushes people away from the neighborhood," said McDonald.

On Wednesday, Rivermist homebuilder Centex Homes began work to stabilize the ground with 100 30-foot-long reinforcement pins. It's the first step toward the permanent solution of completely rebuilding the wall.

"Hopefully, it's something that's going to move us along and get us back to where we're supposed to be," said McDonald.

More than two dozen homeowners were offered buybacks. Some who were not, like Linda Ponds, still worry about the slope failure's lasting impact on property values and the inconvenience all the Centex construction causes in their once quiet neighborhood.

"You see tractors back and forth, back and forth," said Ponds. "It's just really hectic around here."

And many still don't understand why Centex didn't build the wall to last from the start.

"It's just too late for them," said Ponds. "They should have done this at the beginning."

Centex will give the city a new wall design concept by the end of the week. It's expected to take four to six months to rebuild the wall. City inspectors will monitor the construction daily to make sure it is done in a timely manner.