Green Valley Rd, Mountain Brook

At the bottom of the hill, there's a shopping center with a Whole Foods. It's the only one in the entire state, and it's great. Further up, there's a lot of nice little houses and condos. It's a good place for just about anyone: seniors, singles, families, etc. The only problem for little kids would be the traffic, but other than that, it's good. It also has a great school system.

Green Valley Road is most easily described as "you know, the road that goes through Whole Foods", but there's so much more to it than that. I never even realized until I went driving past Whole Foods one day that the road even went anywhere useful. And actually, it does. If you keep on going, you'll find that it passes through Crosshaven and becomes White Oak Drive, which then dumps you right into Cahaba Heights/around the Summit.
This street is actually very scenic, starting in Mountain Brook and then Vestavia Hills, there are many older, prominent houses and condos all along the road, and it's a great place to settle down if you want to live "off" 280 but still close to all the shops and conveniences of the city. It's pretty quiet and has a "set apart" feel that allows you to walk your dog on the sidewalk without worrying about getting hit by high-speed traffic! It's something to be treasured in Birmingham, really.