Possible move to Birmingham! A few questions? (Hoover, Homewood: best neighborhoods, rentals)

[vacant510]

My husband and I (along with our 4 month old baby) are considering a job transfer to the Birmingham area. We live in Dallas/Ft. Worth.. and I'm concerned it will be a huggggee change - I'm a city girl and I love the more upscale areas/city life that Dallas has to offer. Shopping, urban area - downtown, restaurants, more upscale kind of stuff. I was wondering if there are any nice areas in Birmingham/suburbs that I should be on the lookout for when we visit?

Also, what are the best neighborhoods? We are looking to rent (hopefully) a an older home, what are the historic areas like? How much would rent start at?

I have so many questions! Thanks

[cpg35223]

Well, provide us with more information, such as what you define as quality shopping, what you consider as a best neighborhood, and what other amenities are crucial to you. Birmingham has some very nice places and some very nice shopping. What else is important to you?

[eufaula88]

aw cut to the chase, look in Mountain Brooke, English VIllage, Lakeview, and Forest Park.

Quick question, do you live in Sugarland now?

[Back Again]

However, I do not know how the rental market is for historical homes.

[PandaCakes]

Mountain Brook is upscale, with good schools and a pretty short drive to downtown BHam. You have to factor in how close you will be to Hwy 280, though, and Mountain Brook city limits are kind of spread out. 280 is what I imagine the waiting room of hell would be like. You are stuck in your car for 45 minutes, even though your GPS is telling you that you only have about 8 miles to go, and it is a game of russian roulette to keep your car dent-free in the midst of hundreds of other drivers that have decided blinkers are a pretty pointless and old-fashioned vehicular function even though they are constantly punching the gas anytime there's three feet of empty space, swerving without warning into your lane only to have to slam on the brakes again once they wedge themselves like a shoehorn in between your bumper and the SUV in front of you because traffic is not moving. Living in a nice upscale neighborhood doesn't mean much if you want to commit suicide by the time you finally make it home in the evening.

[1984vt]

If you want more city style - there are some lofts downtown. They are a mix of high income and supplemented artist. Shopping - boutique style in Mountain Brook and Homewood. The Summit is a very upscale strip style mall - Neiman, Sax, JCrew etc, great decor stores located downtown. If you can afford it, rentals in Mountain Brook is scarced but available - houses start at around $600,000 so rent would be in or around the $3,500 to $4,000 monthly. If not, You may want to try Highland but the quality is spotty. Don't worry about traffic in areas of Vestavia, Mountain Brook etc because there are so many backroads available you don't have to get on 280 at all. The problem with traffic is anywhere toward Chelsea - once you are past 459 on 280 you have limited routing. Alabaster or Pelham - nightmare traffic coming up 65. Stay out of Hoover as housing seems to be going down as the quality of the area depletes. School ranks are Moutain Brook 1, Vestavia 2, Homewood and Chelsea tied for 3 and Hoover at 5th. Unincorporated Jefferson county schools should be avoided. Private schools are available if you can afford them but unnecessary in Moutain Brook, Vestavia and Homewood. Chelsea - and Hoover are iffy depending on the system you would get into.