With the University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College and Central Baptist College in town, it’s easy to imagine how vibrant Conway can be. In addition to the collegiate atmosphere, the discovery of natural gas in the nearby Fayetteville Shale play has brought additional activity to the city.

Live
Conway boasts a wide range of housing options and offers a median home price well below the national average. Starter homes can be purchased for around $80,000, perfect for recent college graduates. In the historic district, home styles include Queen Anne, Spanish Eclectic, Prairie Box, Tudor, Craftsman, Dutch Colonial, Cape Cod and English Country. If you’re looking for luxury, try Centennial Valley or Paddington Estates. The large number of college students in the area also provides for a variety in apartment and rental options.

Work
The economic make-up of Conway is quite diverse. The colleges provide a lot of jobs, of course, as do Conway Regional Medical Center and Conway Human Development Center, which each have about 1,200 positions.
One of the latest additions to the corporate landscape in Conway is HP, which brought 1,200 customer service and technical support center jobs to the city. Little Rock-based Acxiom Corp., a computer software company specializing in database marketing, has a large Conway presence as well. And Nabholz Construction, a large regional, multi-service construction company, has operations here.

Play
Soccer lovers will love this: Conway is home to the First State Soccer Complex, which has 10 full-sized fields. It’s just one of the city’s 11 parks, which offer all the expected activities. If you’re more of a spectator, the University of Central Arkansas’ athletic teams recently moved up to NCAA Division I play.
And for those residents whose idea of play doesn’t include sports, there are several specialized boutiques in downtown Conway, a 600,000-square-foot outdoor mall that boasts national retailers, and seasonal shopping events to satiate even the guiltiest shopaholic.

Experience
With nearly 75 percent of Conway’s inhabitants under the age of 45, the “City of Colleges” offers a unique living experience. With three colleges within its city limits, Conway boasts a flourishing arts scene with programs for the general public, including music, art exhibits, special speakers and drama.
Possibly the most exciting Conway experience is the Toad Suck Daze festival, which takes over the downtown area for three days in May with outrageous food, fun rides and the popular “Stuck on a Truck” contest.

Where History and Modernity Mingle

Historic Downtown Conway is charming and quintessentially Southern, but it’s also experiencing a modern resurgence. Along Toad Suck Square – where Milton Davis first coined the phrase – residents come to work, play, shop and dine among the 275 businesses located here.

The revitalization plan, Conway 2015, is set to transform the district into a walkable village of homes and businesses. New buildings, like the $7.4 million, 30,000-square-foot police headquarters that opened in 2009, and renovated relics, like the 1917 Halter Building that was turned into a mixed-use development – are among the projects that have already altered downtown’s atmosphere.

Nearby, the Village at Hendrix neighborhood is built with the same vision. It’s a new, walkable community under construction adjacent to the Hendrix College campus. The Village development was planned by the world-renowned town planners who developed Seaside, Fla. 

City officials credit the early success of these revitalization projects to the large number of college students in the area, but believe that because downtown is already a Mecca for community events (like the Downtown Conway Crawl, Simon Park concerts, ArtsFest and Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre performances) it’ll be sustained for years to come.