Live in Conway
Most of what buyers call Conway is not in the City of Orlando, and the City's own piece of it is 222 acres that do not touch the lakes.
Conway is the name for the country south-east of downtown Orlando, and it is mostly not the City of Orlando. The City maps a Conway neighborhood of 222 acres either side of Conway Road below Curry Ford Road, and everything else the name is used for sits in unincorporated Orange County or in the separate municipalities of Belle Isle and Edgewood. That distinction is the whole guide. It decides which government issues the permit, which millage appears on the tax bill, and whether the address is inside the Lake Conway Water and Navigation Control District, a special district created by the Legislature in 1957 that levies its own 0.4107 mills on the land around the chain. The other thing to be clear about is water. The Conway chain is what gives the name its value, and the City's 222 acres are inland of it: the nearest chain water, Little Lake Conway, is about five kilometers away by road. At a USGS-measured 116.8 feet, this is high ground by Florida standards and the risk here is wind and rainfall rather than surge.
One name, three governments and a special district
Conway is a name that covers a lot of ground south-east of downtown, and most of that ground is not the City of Orlando. The City's own Conway neighborhood is 222 acres, either side of Conway Road below Curry Ford Road, and that is a small fraction of the ground the name is used for. The rest lies in unincorporated Orange County, or inside Belle Isle or Edgewood, which are separate cities with their own councils and their own millage. A listing that says Conway has told you almost nothing about which of those you would be buying.
Work out which government the address answers to before anything else. A City address is policed by the Orlando Police Department, permitted by the City, and taxed at the City's 18.0878 total mills. An unincorporated address a few hundred meters away is policed by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, permitted by the county, and taxed on a different total. Belle Isle and Edgewood each add their own. None of this is visible from the street, and the property appraiser's record is the place to settle it.
Then there is a levy that appears on no city millage table. The Lake Conway Water and Navigation Control District was created by the Legislature in 1957, under Chapter 57-1643 of the Laws of Florida, drafted by a Conway attorney at a time when the lakeshore was still largely undeveloped. It covers 3,776 acres, it is run by the county commission, and it charges an ad valorem millage on the land inside it: 0.4107 mills now, against a statutory ceiling of two. The district exists because the chain has been fought over before. Belle Isle incorporated in 1924 specifically to stop Orange County draining these lakes, lost its charter in 1928, and got its government back in 1954 after beating a second drainage proposal.
The lakes are the reason for the name and the City's Conway does not touch them. Lake Conway is really three lakes joined by canals, and the nearest chain water to the City's neighborhood, Little Lake Conway, is about five kilometers away by road. If the point of moving here is a dock, the address you want is in the county or in Belle Isle, inside the navigation district, and carrying that extra levy. If the point is a big lot near the Conway schools ten minutes from downtown, the City's 222 acres do that and cost less.
At a USGS-measured 116.8 feet this is high ground for Florida, so the storm-surge argument that runs through this site's coastal pages does not reach it. What does reach it is rainfall. The ground here is sand over a lake system whose levels are actively managed, and standing water after a multi-day storm is a lot-by-lot question rather than a neighborhood one. Get a flood quote on the specific property whether or not the map demands one, and read the Orlando hub for how the rest of the bill is built.
- Check the jurisdiction on the property appraiser's record before you check anything else. It sets the millage, the permits and who answers the call
- Ask whether the parcel sits inside the Lake Conway Water and Navigation Control District, which adds its own millage to the bill
- A dock is a county or Belle Isle purchase. The City's Conway does not reach the chain
- Get a flood quote on the address rather than relying on the flood map, because this is lake country with managed water levels
- Commission a wind mitigation report; the post-war stock here predates the wind codes an insurer prices for
- Confirm the school assignment for the address. The district is county-wide, so the municipal line does not move it, but the catchment line is its own thing
How Conway got here
- 1924Belle Isle is founded on the chain of lakes and incorporated as a town on 21 October, by residents opposing Orange County's plan to use the lakes for drainage.
- 1928Belle Isle is annexed back into the county and its municipal records disappear. The lakes go back to being a county matter.
- 1954Residents defeat a second county drainage proposal and local government on the chain is reinstated.
- 1957The Legislature creates the Lake Conway Water and Navigation Control District under Chapter 57-1643, Laws of Florida, drafted by the Conway attorney James C. Robinson. Residential development around the lake has barely started.
- 1967The district's enabling law is amended again, after an earlier amendment in 1959, and the arrangement that still governs the chain settles into place.
- 1972Florida formally recognizes Belle Isle's charter, and the municipal patchwork around the lakes takes the shape a buyer meets today.
- 2026The City of Orlando's own Conway neighborhood covers 222 acres of the area the name is used for, and the rest is county, Belle Isle or Edgewood.
The Conway chain, Barber Park and Fort Gatlin
The open space here is split between the county and the City, which is fitting. Barber Park south-east is the county's, with fields, courts and a dog park. Fort Gatlin Recreation Complex west is the City's, with a pool. Lake Underhill north of the 408 has the nearest continuous path. The Conway chain itself is the region's real attraction and it starts about five kilometers south-west, with public access on the county and Belle Isle shores.
What the map does not show: boat access is the thing people move here for and the thing they most often get wrong. Lake access can mean a private dock, a deeded easement, or a public ramp a ten minute drive away, and those are three different prices. Establish which one a listing means before you value it.
Elsewhere in Orlando, not Conway
21 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 21 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are computed from a representative point in the City's Conway neighborhood, using straight-line distance multiplied by a road factor and a tiered speed model: honest ranges, not routed times. Distances to the chain of lakes are measured to the water, not to a boat ramp.
Every gym within reach
Provision here is public rather than commercial: a county park, a City recreation complex, a lake path and the water itself. Gyms and studios sit along Curry Ford Road and Conway Road rather than inside the residential streets.
- Fields, courts and a dog park, run by Orange County rather than the City
- Fort Gatlin Recreation Complex to the west is the City's equivalent, and has a pool
- The Lake Underhill path north of the 408 is the nearest continuous running loop
- Paddling on the chain is the local sport, and public access is on the county and Belle Isle shores
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Fort Gatlin Recreation Complex open | The City complex west of here, with a pool and playing fields, and the nearest municipal facility to these streets. | 5–8 min |
| Barber Park open | The county park south-east of here, with fields, courts and a dog park, and the one most families in the area use. | 12–18 min |
| Lake Underhill open | The path around the lake north of the 408, and the nearest continuous loop for running. | 5–8 min |
| Little Lake Conway open | The nearest chain water for paddling and boating, with public access on the county and Belle Isle side rather than the City side. | 7–11 min |
The free option is the residential grid and the Lake Underhill path. Both are flat, and from June to September both are an early-morning proposition.
County-wide assignment, whichever government you live under
Orange County Public Schools runs every school here, so the municipal boundary that decides the tax bill decides nothing about the classroom. Conway Elementary and Conway Middle are south of the City's neighborhood, on the county side of the line, and Boone High School to the west is the traditional high school for this side of the city. Pershing School, running kindergarten through eighth grade to the south-west, takes some addresses in the area.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Conway Elementary School | Orange County Public Schools | South of the City's Conway and in unincorporated Orange County, which changes nothing about the assignment: the district is county-wide. |
| Conway Middle School | Orange County Public Schools | The middle school for much of the area, also on the county side of the line. |
| Pershing School | Orange County Public Schools | A kindergarten through eighth grade school south-west of here, and an alternative some addresses on this side are assigned to. |
| Boone High School | Orange County Public Schools | The traditional public high school for this side of the city. Confirm the assignment for the address rather than the neighborhood. |
| Orange County's choice program | Orange County Public Schools | Magnet and choice programs run county-wide alongside assignment, with their own application window. |
The catchment lines do not follow the municipal lines or the City's neighborhood boundary, and this part of the county has been rezoned before. Check the specific address in the district's zone lookup rather than trusting a listing.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Highs around 22 °C and lows near 10, the coolest and driest stretch of the year
- Lake levels are at their lowest and the chain is quiet
- Peak visitor season, and traffic on the 408 and Semoran to match
- The driest month on average, and the best for anything outdoors
- Barber Park runs at capacity every weekend
- Comfortable enough to be outside at midday, which stops being true in April
- Warming into the high twenties, with humidity coming back late in the month
- Spring break brings the metro's heaviest visitor traffic of the year
- Boat traffic on the chain picks up and does not let go until October
- Warm and still mostly dry, the last month before the air changes
- Insurance renewals cluster ahead of hurricane season
- Get the wind mitigation report now, and get a flood quote whether or not the map requires one
- The rainy season usually begins in the second half of the month
- Afternoon thunderstorms become a daily fixture rather than an event
- Central Florida is the most lightning-prone region in the United States, and open water makes that a practical problem
- Atlantic hurricane season runs 1 June to 30 November
- Daily storms, and mid-thirties once the humidity is counted
- Lake levels start to climb, which is what the navigation district exists to manage
- The hottest and wettest month, and outdoor life moves to early morning and after dark
- The chain is busiest at the weekend and empty on a Tuesday morning
- Storms are reliable enough in their timing to plan a day around
- Peak humidity, and the start of the serious part of hurricane season
- School starts mid-month and the Conway Road queue returns with it
- At 117 feet this is high ground, so the question is standing rainfall rather than surge
- Statistically the peak of Atlantic hurricane activity
- Binding restrictions mean you often cannot buy a new policy with a named storm in the basin
- Hurricane Charley crossing the city in 2004 is the local reference, not a coastal event
- The rains taper off and the humidity finally breaks
- Still hurricane season, and October storms have crossed the peninsula before
- The best month of the year to be on the water
- Hurricane season ends on 30 November and the dry season starts
- Comfortable enough to be outside all day again
- Snowbird traffic returns and the metro fills back up
- Warm days, cool evenings and almost no rain
- Peak season proper, and the parks are full
- The pay-off for August
Every photograph in this guide's library is above
This library holds one photograph and the page has already printed it. The credits are in the footer.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images geotagged in or near Conway, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. Inline photos elsewhere on the page may still come from the site's shared Orlando library.