The Leadership Dothan Class of 2023 made its annual trek to the Houston County Administrative Building as part of its “Government Day.” It’s an annual pilgrimage but the first time I’ve been able to visit with the group as Chairman.
I gave them a presentation about county government, which I think went well. At the end of the presentation, we passed out index cards to each person in attendance. I asked them two things:
On one side, write one thing you love about living in Houston County.
On the other, write one thing you wish Houston County would fix or do a better job at (I’ll post about this topic later)
We collected the cards as they left and I spent several minutes tabulating the responses. Of the 35 people in attendance, we collected about 30 responses. The responses were broken down roughly into 11 categories.
Without further ado:
#1 – The People (9)
9 people responded that the values, beliefs, engagement, and hospitality of the people around them were the main reason they loved living in Houston County.



#2 – Recreation Opportunities (7)
Our parks tended to be a popular reason people loved Houston County. The City of Dothan has made quite an investment in parks over the years. There is the popular baseball and softball-focused James Oates Park. The multi-purpose Westgate Park and mountain biking Forever Wild Trail are popular attractors as well.



#3 (Tie) – Low Cost of Living & Proximity to Other Cities/Beaches (3 each)
Houston County is strategically located near more major cities like Birmingham, Atlanta, Montgomery, and Mobile. Also, the beautiful beaches of the Gulf Coast are only a few hours away. But in Houston County, the property taxes and/or insurance are much, much more affordable.


#5 – Schools (2)
2 out of the 30 respondents cited the schools as their favorite thing about Houston County. Although we have some work to do there, especially from a buildings and grounds standpoint, Houston County does have some highly regarded teachers that are engaged and pushing hard to better educate our children.
#6 – All Other Responses (1 each)
Here are the other responses I gathered:
Library System 🏛️
Leadership 👨💼👩💼
Downtown Dothan Revitalization 🌇
Respondent’s place of employment (a home health and rehab facility in Dothan) 👩⚕️
Climate 🌤️
Investments being made in growth & infrastructure 🛣️
What About You?
What is your favorite thing about Houston County? Leave your comment below 👇
Hi Brandon. Hard to come up with a #1, but probably proximity to other places - which doesn't sound like a great endorsement does it? Perhaps the people should be my fav - lots of great people, especially transplants from other places I'm honored to have met and count as friends during my time in Dothan. I never expected to be in Dothan for more than a couple of years... 23 years and counting.
This is a great topic. I think so much of this has to do with what you decide your mindset is going to be regarding where you live and the choices you make resulting from that mindset. I echo a lot of the leadership class responses. I like the down-home culture and I've met some awesome people here.