[rbayle]

My husband may have a job offer in the area on post-a civilian position. By the way, I have seen posts on here about jobs with Shaw-who are they??? Anyway, I have two kids (12 and 14) Daughter 12 is homeschooled, son is in a charter school. We like to camp, fish and hunt, but still like shops, restaurants and movies too. What would be a great area for us to enjoy the "rednecks" around and still have some sort of life where we get out into the world some? By the way, in FL. my son can be dual enrolled in college while he is in high school and it is all paid for. Is that opportunity available everywhere?

[military spouse]

Hi,
I wish I could answer your questions, but I really can't. What I can tell you is that we used to live in Dothan (left in 2001, or so) and we enjoyed it. Hubby worked at Ft. Rucker. We were just in Enterprise last weekend visiting some friends and we were shocked at how many new residential areas have/are being built since we left. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as if commercial development has followed. My other concern is if BRAC ever affected Rucker, those houses in Enterprise would depreciate rapidly. There doesn't seem to be any significant jobs besides those provided by Rucker. Dothan has an economy of its own. That being said, I do think people in Enterprise are more welcoming of "outsiders" because very few people are from there. When we lived in Dothan, the vast majority of people were extremely nice, but had been friends with people FOREVER. It was just a bit harder to break into their circle of friends. What a tough, but exciting choice! Dothan has quite a bit of shopping and restaurants and we noticed a new shopping center going in that included Barnes & Noble, Target, Kohls, etc. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bravo35223]

I'd strongly recommend Dothan. It is a nice town that is well managed and is a three state commerce hub for Southeast AL, Southwest GA and NW FL.

It has a good hospital.

Southeast Alabama Medical Center - Dothan, Alabama - 334.793.8111

And good county government.

Welcome To Houston County - Dothan, Alabama

As written previously, Dothan has its own economy and is not as dependent on the military as Enterprise is....

[rbayle]

someone said if BRAC ever affected Enterprise the houses would plummet-what is BRAC?

[Bravo35223]

It stands for Base Realignment and Closure. It is a Deparment of Defense term for the long term reduction in domestic military bases.

Base Realignment and Closure 2005 - U.S. Department of Defense

The state of Alabama has been victim and benefactor of the BRAC program. A huge Army base in Anniston closed down and I think their personnel were relocated to a base in Missouri. This hurt Calhoun County very badly.

On the other hand, Huntsville is a huge benefactor as thousands of military personnel from other bases in the country are being relocated to the US Army base in Huntsville.

The thing for you to know is that BRAC is an ongoing process....Nobody knows about the base in the Enterprise area in terms of its long term future.

Another reason to choose Dothan as your home. It has its own economy and is a well-managed town and county.

[rbayle]

well, actually the job offer is with a company that rebuilds military housing, so the job would be at Ft. Rucker-but a civilian job. I think this company has a 15 yr. contract with FT. Rucker to remodel and build base housing, so wouldnt' that guarantee that they would be there for a long time? The company is Picerne. Anyone know anything about them?

[Bravo35223]

Sorry...no.

[yarrow]

my honest opinion? Not Ft Rucker itself but the surrounding area is the most god awful place I've ever lived. My husband was stationed there for 3 years, the entire time it felt like my life was on standby. If you're a Southerner you might be able to like it. If not, and you still expect something out of your life, PLEASE go somewhere else!

[Bravo35223]

Originally Posted by yarrow

my honest opinion? Not Ft Rucker itself but the surrounding area is the most god awful place I've ever lived. My husband was stationed there for 3 years, the entire time it felt like my life was on standby. If you're a Southerner you might be able to like it. If not, and you still expect something out of your life, PLEASE go somewhere else!

Go to Dothan and rbayle don't look back...

I checked the City Data page on Houston County. It has almost 100,000 residents and in a COMBINED two year period between 1/1/2004 - 12/31/2005 - there was 1 rape and 1 homicide.

At least you can say they've got their law enforcement under control....that's remarkable.

[yarrow]

I agree that Dothan would be the place to live, not Enterprise or Ozark. But by "surrounding area" I pretty much was talking about 2 hours if not more in every direction. The only pleasant place close by are the beaches around Destin - and I am not even a beach person LOL. Dothan must be one of the most depressing cities I've ever seen. I remember hearing on the news about quite many murders and shootings while we were there form 2000-2003