Mountain Brook, Alabama

paradigm. “We have a lot of retired people here in Mountain Brook who want to downsize, but they really want to stay in Mountain Brook,” Hazen reports. “We hear this a lot at public hearings - people come and support some of the multi-use projects and rezonings that we have because they’re looking for an opportunity to get into one of the villages where they can walk to eat or go to the park.” As of now, the three historic Mountain Brooks villages do not allow for residential use over retail. Cahaba Village, one of the city’s smaller commercial developments, and home of the first Whole Foods grocery store in Alabama, does allow it, as does a small mixed-use project on the corner of Dexter and Vine, called the Vine Street Transitional District. “It’s meant for a specific area in the city that is a transitional zone between the core villages and single-family homes. That particular district does allow a mix of uses,” says Hazen. “It’s a small lot that has office space on the street and three town homes in the back. They’re not above retail, but they’re all incorporated in one building. Cahaba Village is what people think about when they think about a true mixed-use residential over retail. That’s the only one in the city that we have built out that way. Lane Parke is also considered mixed-use, but everything is free-standing; the apartments, the hotel, the retail are on their own footprint.” In order to help mitigate traffic problems near the new Lane Parke development, in conjunction with the City of Birmingham, Mountain Brook is planning a new roundabout project at the intersection of several roads that come off of U.S. Highway 280 on the western edge of the city. “Hopefully, it will alleviate some of the traffic congestion that we currently face in that area,” says Gaston. “The Birmingham Zoo and the Botanical Gardens are nearby, and John’s development is right across the street. We’ve looked at this intersection many times, and the only solution to help keep traffic moving and