Commuting to Conway

RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — On Monday morning, Vicky Wyeth will be one of many commuters headed to Conway on Interstate 40. She works at the University of Central Arkansas’ Academic Success Center.

Her husband works in Little Rock, so the couple split the difference by living in Maumelle.

“I don’t mind commuting at all,” Wyeth said. “You’re going against the traffic to Little Rock. I have never worked in the same city I live in, and I enjoy the drive.”

But some days, she misses the freedom of living close to where she works.

“It’s bad, if you commute, if you forget something at home,” she said. “You’re kind of stuck.”

But all in all, living in a community she enjoys and having the privacy she needs is worth it to Wyeth.

“The first three years I started teaching, I lived in the same town where I worked. I was a little uncomfortable seeing parents and students in the grocery store all the time.”

Uncomfortable doesn’t describe the way Maumelle Mayor Mike Watson feels when he uses the term “bedroom community.” He said it makes sense.

“If one spouse works in Conway and another works in Little Rock, we are in the middle for a family to live,” Watson said.

Maumelle was named the fastest-growing city in Arkansas in January in a study conducted by the Gadberry Group. Conway was third, and with businesses like Hewlett-Packard in the area,

growth in Conway is

sure to continue.

Smaller communi

ties in Faulkner Coun

ty look to the larger

city as an example.

“If there was

some sort of

big-brother

award, Conway should get it,” said Amie Regester, director of the Greenbrier Chamber of Commerce.

Mayflower Mayor Randy Holland said Mayflower has a great relationship with Conway.

“All of the mayors in Faulkner County call [Conway Mayor Tab Townsell] the big brother because he really does help us, and we know we need the big town,” Holland said.

Holland cites Mayflower’s proximity to Conway and Little Rock as a selling point for his city. He also doesn’t mind the term “bedroom community” one bit.

“We are a clean little town, and I think that is what everybodyis looking for,” Holland said. “It is a place they can come back home to and feel comfortable.”

Holland said he still sees a lot of community involvement from Mayflower residents who work in Conway.

City officials in Mayflower, Vilonia and Greenbrier all projected that about 75 percent of their residents work outside their hometowns.

“There’s not a whole lot of industry here,” said Jill Bonnema, treasurer of the Vilonia Chamber of Commerce.

“We work to promote the businesses that are here now,” she said. “We are possibly a bedroom community, but definitely a growing community.”

Greenbrier is growing as well, Mayor Melton Cotton said.

“The gas companies and all the drilling have been very good to us,” he said. “A lot of people are working for that.”

Regester said the important thing now is to continue to grow. It helps her to know that the city of Conway, as well asits chamber of commerce, is cheering for Greenbrier.

“In their mind, this is a big neighborhood, and right now they have the biggest draw,” Regester said, “but they also know that not everybody that comes to work for HP wants to live in Conway.”

Some families enjoy living as far away as Conway County.

“My husband is a captain of the Conway Fire Department,”Morrilton resident Shelli Crowell said. “We choose to live here because we like the slow pace of our town but love to also be a part of Conway life.” Regester said the decision about where to work and live and whether to commute is a matter of personal preference.

“It’s like a mall right now,” she said. “Which store do you want to at ?”

River Valley Ozark, Pages 137 on 06/13/2010

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