If you don’t believe we live in a nice place, leave for a while. Deal with traffic; take a tour of public places that aren’t cared for. And talk to people who don’t feel a pride in their place. You’ll be so happy to come home.

While most of us realize that Andalusia is a small city with lots going for it, we had that affirmed this past week when our town made the cover of the quarterly Alabama Municipal Journal, and was one of three communities receiving the 2013 Municipal Quality of Life Award.

The Alabama League of Municipalities encourages cities across the state to enter its annual competition. Andalusia received the award in the population division 5,0001 to 12,000, and was recognized for his River Falls Street and AlaTex Monument Park work.

The city purchased the old AlaTex Textile Mill in 2009 and has since partnered with the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce to create a new chamber office and welcome center, as well as a national textile monument in tribute to the thousands who worked at the site and in textile mills all over the United States.

The $5 million project includes the River Falls Street renovation, as well as improvements to the AlaTex corporate headquarters and the adjacent property.

The awards were designed by the League to recognize innovative projects that improve the quality of life for citizens. The accompanying publicity should help us share our story to others who’d like to own a business or live among us.

We congratulate our city’s leaders for taking the bold steps for this project and the recognition that has come. And we recognize, as do they, that a city, like a sports team, can never rest on its laurels, but always must be looking for the next project to make it even better.