Take a good look around 

The redoubtable Eric Grubbs, who can always be counted on for a question, asks: "Why Conway?"  Why do we choose to live here?

Any "why" question has several layers of answer.  The simplest is historical: We live here because in academia, you go where the job is -- in all but the rarest occasions, you can't choose where you want to live and then look for a job there.  In 1998 I applied for the first faculty position ever to be created for the Honors College at UCA, along with about 30 other jobs around the country.  When I was offered the job, we weighed the other options and chose to accept.  

And in July 1999 we packed up the Ryder truck and came to Arkansas, a state in which I'd never set foot despite living next door to it throughout my upbringing.  (To be fair, East Tennessee doesn't really consider itself adjacent to anything farther west than Nashville.)  Noel spent a couple of preteen years in Searcy before his parents divorced, but neither of us had any idea what to expect.  All we knew was that there was a good job here, and they wanted me for it.

I suppose we could have chosen to live in Little Rock, 30 miles down the interstate.  We have friends here with university jobs in Conway who would rather live in the big city and endure the commute.  But it wasn't ever a serious consideration for us.  We hated our fifteen-mile commute to our Charlottesville jobs enough that living within walking distance of work sounded like heaven.  (And it has been exactly that.)

It's fair to say that Noel and I are big-city people.  Even though I've spent my whole life in middling towns, suburbs, exurbs, and even rural crossroads rather than metropoleis, my lifestyle tastes are geared to the city.  I love walking places.  I love trains and subways.  I love neighborhoods and theater districts and shopping districts and hole-in-the-wall restaurants.  I love the always-something-happening bustle of a city.

But there are joys to our small-town life, too, that are not inconsiderable, and that's the other level of "why."  Some of the professoriate with whom we associate here, it's fair to say, hate this town.  Little Rock is barely tolerable -- it has some decent restaurants and culture -- but even the best aspects of the environment are tainted by the Arkansas location.

We don't feel that way.  I might be starry-eyed about the multicultural mosaic, the progressive politics, the wealth of artistic expression available in the continent's urban centers.  But I can't afford to live in them -- and the possibility of owning a nice-sized, conveniently-located home is a big plus for small Southern towns.  The people here are friendly and generally well-meaning, even if not as many of them are well-educated as they might be back East.  A university town makes up for many ills; there are like-minded folks around in large enough numbers for vigorous socializing, and the public schools are better than decent.  Our local elementary school is within walking distance along a route that is actually walkable (sidewalks and everything -- which is in fact a rarity outside the town oldest districts, and the preschool Cady Gray will attend this fall sits right at the southern entrance to our small neighborhood.  And the two major colleges bring in or produce enough art and culture to satisfy all but the most voracious tastes.

When I get a chance, I'll construct a brief history of towns I've inhabited, with nostalgic reminiscences and photographic illustrations.  Hm, what else can I squeeze into the brief history format?

Posted: Sunday - July 08, 2007 at 12:15 PM         |