Mountain Brook is a city in southeastern
Jefferson County, Alabama
Jefferson County is the List of counties in Alabama, most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, located in the central portion of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 674,721. Its county seat i ...
, United States, and a suburb of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
. Its population at the 2020 census was 22,461.
History
The city was originally developed in 1929 by real-estate businessman Robert Jemison, Jr., as a suburb of Birmingham along the ridges known as Red Mountain and Shades Mountain. It was incorporated on May 24, 1942.
The plans, by Boston-based landscape architect
Warren H. Manning, called for estate-sized lots along winding scenic roads and denser commercial development centering on three picturesque "villages": English Village, Mountain Brook Village and Crestline Village. Most of Mountain Brook's development preserved the existing trees: 92.03% is under tree cover, one of the highest ratios in the nation. Residential sections such as Cherokee Bend, Brookwood Forest, Overton, and Crestline have houses in a forest setting, with a recreational network of
bridle paths. This has protected the area from urban encroachment.
Mountain Brook is the location of the first
office park in the U.S., built in 1955. It featured the then novel concepts of ample free parking and low-profile office buildings surrounded by waterspouts and landscaped grounds.
A new city hall, including a fire and police station, was completed in 2013.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, it has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
2020 United States census, there were 22,461 people and 8,365 households.
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 20,413 people, 7,731 households, and 5,864 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 8,266 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.2% White, 1.0% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.2% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races. 1.0% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 7,731 households, out of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.2% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.1% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.12.
29.3% of the population was under the age of 18, 4.5% was from 18 to 24, 20.8% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.4 males.
The median income for a household was $130,721, and the median income for a family was $164,750. Males had a median income of $124,224 versus $54,420 for females. The per capita income for the city was $76,763. 1.8% of families and 3.7% of individuals were below the poverty line, including 2.1% of individuals under 18 and 2.5% of those 65 and over.
According to a list compiled in 2008 by Stephen Higley, it is the ninth wealthiest community in the United States. It is often referred to as "The Tiny Kingdom" due to its high concentration of the region's business and professional leaders, and the disparity of wealth between it and Birmingham where according to census data nearly a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line.
Government
Mountain Brook has a city council/mayor/city manager system of government.
The
city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
, consisting of five members elected at large, considers most issues and appoints the
police chief and
fire chief.
The
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
is Stewart Welch, III, first elected in 2016.
The
city manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...
is Sam Gaston, appointed by the council and mayor in January 2008.
Education
Schools are part of the
Mountain Brook School System and include:
*Brookwood Forest Elementary
*Cherokee Bend Elementary
*Crestline Elementary
*Mountain Brook Elementary
*Mountain Brook Junior High
*
Mountain Brook High School
Notable people
*
Lou Anders, writer
*
Jay Barker, former
NFL player
*
Nate Bland, former
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
player (
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...
)
*
Scott Bondy, an American folk/alternative musician. Formerly lead singer of the band
Verbena
''Verbena'' (), also known as vervain or verveine, is a genus in the family Verbenaceae. It contains about 150 species of annual and perennial herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plants. The majority of the species are native to the Americas ...
.
*
Gregg Carr,
orthopedist and former Pittsburgh Steelers football player
*
Courteney Cox, actress
*
Tommy Dewey, actor (17 Again, The BabyMakers, The Mindy Project)
*
Pat DuPré, semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 1979 and a quarter finalist in the U.S. Open. 1979–1981; he was ranked in the top 20 in the world, reaching as high as 12th.
*
Sara Evans, country music singer
*
Basil Hirschowitz, gastroenterologist
*
Natalee Holloway Natalee is a female given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other me ...
, alleged murder victim
*
Alan Hunter, MTV Veejay
*
Kate Jackson, Hollywood actress; star of ''
Charlie's Angels'' as well as ''
Scarecrow and Mrs. King''
*
David Jaffe
David Scott Jaffe (born April 13, 1971) is an American video game, video game designer best known for directing the ''Twisted Metal'' and God of War (franchise), ''God of War'' series. In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game cr ...
, video game designer (''
God of War
A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in polytheism, polytheistic religions.
Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been portrayed in their ...
'', ''
Twisted Metal
''Twisted Metal'' is a series of Vehicular combat game, vehicular combat video games originally developed by SingleTrac and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series has appeared on the PlayStation (console), PlayStation, PlaySta ...
'')
*
Doug Jones, former
U.S. senator from Alabama
*
Don Logan former CEO of Time Warner Inc
*
Graeme McFarland, football player (
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
)
*
Tribble Reese, actor
*
Emeel Salem, All-American baseball player at the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...
, former minor league player in the
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...
organization. (6th round draft pick 2007)
*
Sarah Simmons, Top 8 finalist on
season 4 of ''
The Voice''.
*
Luther Strange, former
U.S. senator from Alabama
*
Barret Swatek, Hollywood actress, Republican activist and recurring talk-show guest
*
William Vlachos, center for the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...
National Championship Team in 2009 and 2011.
*
Trendon Watford,
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
basketball player for the
Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), ...
*
Gordon Sargent,
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
Individual National Champion Golfer for the
Vanderbilt Commodores
Cultural references
In ''
South and West: From a Notebook'',
Joan Didion
Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer and journalist. She is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism, along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson, and Tom Wolfe.
Didio ...
writes, "It is said that the dead center of Birmingham society is the southeast corner of the locker room at the Mountain Brook country club." She adds, "it is hard to make the connection between this Birmingham and that of
Bull Connor."
During his
1970 gubernatorial campaign,
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...
derisively referred to Mountain Brook as "where the rich folks live in the suburbs up across the mountain from Birmingham."
Transportation
Transit service in Mountain Brook is provided by
Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority, which operates Max Transit bus service.
References
External links
City of Mountain Brook website*
{{Authority control
Cities in Alabama
Cities in Jefferson County, Alabama
Birmingham metropolitan area, Alabama
Historic American Landscapes Survey in Alabama
Populated places established in 1929
1929 establishments in Alabama