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" Call it a city of Anglophiles, if you will. Streets named Canterbury, Cambridge, and Balmoral wind through neighborhoods of classic Tudors with lattice-paned windows and steeply pitched roofs. Lawns are manicured and edged with neatly trimmed boxwood hedges. In the villages that border the downtown area, antiques stores seem to spring up around every corner. The trial of the controversial, thoroughly entertaining, and recently convicted former mayor, who talked of reincarnating Trafalgar Square downtown, forced citizens to adopt yet something else from the Brits\u2014a dry sense of humor.  The name itself, taken from a flourishing city across the pond, Birmingham, England, during the Industrial Age, is a fitting moniker. In the late 1800s, the three raw materials needed to produce steel\u2014coal, iron ore, and limestone\u2014were discovered in and began being extracted from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, a phenomenon that transformed what had been a cornfield into the South&amp;#039;s booming industrial epicenter: Birmingham, Alabama. In fact, at the turn of the century, steel and iron production generated such an explosion in population and wealth\u2014think Silicon Valley in the 1990s\u2014that the town garnered the nickname the Magic City.  1 --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt;  --&amp;amp;gt;  As the iron and steel trades prospered and subsequently mellowed over the past 120 years, the once-smokestacked landscape (which earned Birmingham a far less attractive nickname: Pittsburgh of the South) gradually morphed into high rises filled with bankers, lawyers, and doctors. And, more recently, vacant 1920s buildings have been converted into lofts, accommodating professors and medical students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), the enormous engine\u2014college, research center, and teaching hospital all in one\u2014that occupies 86 city blocks and drives the economy.  &amp;quot;Right now all the seeds planted by so many progressive people over the past 20 years are coming to fruition,&amp;quot; says downtown advocate and developer Robert Simon. The new loft dwellers have upped the hip factor, reviving the caf\u00E9 and restaurant scene, so now it&amp;#039;s easy to partake of both lively nightlife and early-morning cappuccinos. In addition to the mainstays that Birmingham&amp;#039;s enormously wealthy families have bequeathed to the city, including a world-class art museum and a top-notch music and entertainment facility, the Alys Robinson Stephens Center, the redeveloped areas are drawing residents of the surrounding suburbs downtown on a daily basis\u2014something virtually unheard of in the &amp;#039;80s. The city&amp;#039;s north side, around Third Avenue North, bursts with industrial spaces that have been converted into stores and restaurants. Lakeview, to the east, is studded with watering holes for thirty-somethings and young professionals; the old Dr. Pepper factory there has become a destination for design enthusiasts, with stalls and shops offering antiques and furnishings, architectural firms, plus a community theater. In a town where antiques stores thrive, dealer Robert Hill&amp;#039;s converted industrial space nearby stands out as one of the best, divided into a series of vignettes filled with religious artifacts, tapestries, and furnishings from all over Europe. &amp;quot;If you&amp;#039;re looking for something in Birmingham you can find it, whether in my store or another,&amp;quot; Hill explains. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re all friends and we know who has what\u2014we&amp;#039;ll send you to the right place.&amp;quot;  Downtown properties that fell into decay in the &amp;#039;70s and &amp;#039;80s are finding all kinds of innovative new uses. The biggest surprise is a block-long community garden, Jones Valley Urban Farm, that grows and sells organic produce and flowers to local groceries, farmers&amp;#039; markets, and restaurants. &amp;quot;They&amp;#039;ve helped the community understand the importance of knowing where your food is harvested,&amp;quot; says chef Chris Dupont, whose popular Caf\u00E9 Dupont is celebrated for its seasonal and largely organic cuisine.  The rage for local ingredients that&amp;#039;s sweeping the city&amp;#039;s restaurants began with James Beard award\u2013winning chef Frank Stitt and his Highlands Bar and Grill, which he opened in the &amp;#039;80s. In a city previously\u2014and still\u2014known mostly for its barbecue joints, Highlands became an immediate hit. He elevates the bounty of Alabama farmers\u2014Swiss chard and turnips in the winter and peaches and butter beans in the summer\u2014to haute cuisine. New York\u2013based sports journalist, author, and Birmingham native Warren St. John is a fan. &amp;quot;I go straight from the airport to the oyster bar at Highlands\u2014I&amp;#039;ve even called and asked them not to send the oyster shucker home until I get there,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;You feel like you&amp;#039;re eating at a quintessentially Southern place\u2014you can&amp;#039;t get that in New York.&amp;quot;  Stitt&amp;#039;s three establishments (he opened Bottega Restaurant and Caf\u00E9, an Italian favorite, in 1988, and Chez Fonfon, a casual French bistro next door to Highlands, in 2000) have the most coveted tables in town. He attributes much of his success to the willingness of the locals to try new things. &amp;quot;I can sell out of sweetbreads and veal liver, things other Southern markets wouldn&amp;#039;t even offer,&amp;quot; he says. Click here to see the gallery for &amp;quot;ELLE DECOR Goes to Birmingham&amp;quot;.  --&amp;amp;gt; 2 --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt;  --&amp;amp;gt;  While the retail and dining scenes downtown have undergone a resurgence, bad politics have played a part in substandard schools, crime, and a steady decline in the population of the city. Many readers of the local paper will admit sheepishly that the recent trial of Mayor Larry Langford for bribery, fraud, and money laundering provided riveting entertainment, but this distraction and the current economic struggles\u2014several banks headquartered in Birmingham have suffered\u2014are slowing redevelopment. Yet Robert Simon validates the thoughts of many: &amp;quot;We are bullish about the long-term prospects of our city.&amp;quot;  Nonetheless, the region&amp;#039;s more affluent citizens are likely to choose to live &amp;quot;over the mountain&amp;quot; (the term refers to Red Mountain, a peak that borders the city to the south) in the surrounding metropolitan areas, including Vestavia Hills, Hoover, and Homewood.  Mountain Brook is perhaps the most sought-after address. As its name suggests, this town capitalizes on the hilly terrain that stands in stark contrast to the mostly flat topography of the rest of the state. Conceived in 1929 by Robert Jemison Jr. as a collection of country estates for wealthy downtowners who felt confined on small city lots, Mountain Brook was designed to preserve the woodlands while providing such leisure pursuits as horseback riding, tennis, golf, and gardening\u2014and the two thriving private country clubs still here attest to Jemison&amp;#039;s success.  Long and winding roads weave through neighborhoods connected by four tiny pedestrian-friendly villages\u2014English, Mountain Brook, Cahaba, and Crestline\u2014with markets, boutiques, and restaurants so accommodating some citizens rarely venture beyond a two-mile radius of home. Children can walk to public schools and order sodas from a real old-fashioned fountain at Gilchrist Drug, a lunch spot that&amp;#039;s one of the original businesses in Mountain Brook village. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s a lifestyle that celebrates the natural union of house and garden so indigenous to the South,&amp;quot; says local designer Mary Evelyn McKee.  &amp;quot;Brookies,&amp;quot; as they are called, can credit their sanctuary to Warren H. Manning, a disciple of Frederick Law Olmsted, who is considered the founder of American landscape architecture. Commissioned by Jemison to help plan the community&amp;#039;s layout, Manning merged Tudor architectural influences with meandering roads to encourage inhabitants to drive slowly and take in the cultivated landscape. &amp;quot;I keep a convertible in Birmingham to enjoy the scenery,&amp;quot; St. John says. &amp;quot;One minute you can be in the heart of downtown and 15 minutes later be driving through lush, rolling hills.&amp;quot;  Even as Birmingham has grown, the impact of the mountains on the city has remained profound, from the minerals that enriched the families who for decades have sustained a diversity of culture you&amp;#039;d expect in a much larger town, to the terrain that has precluded the kind of urban sprawl which has spoiled too many other cities. One permanent reminder of their influence is a fixture in the skyline atop Red Mountain. Vulcan\u2014depicting the Roman god of fire and forge, and at 56 feet the tallest cast-iron statue in the world\u2014was commissioned in 1903 as an emblem of Birmingham&amp;#039;s growth and power for the St. Louis World&amp;#039;s Fair. Today, though some residents are oblivious to the immensity of steel&amp;#039;s impact and simply take lighthearted pleasure in Vulcan&amp;#039;s bare rump exposed to passersby on the Red Mountain Expressway, there are many more who recognize his hammer and anvil as proud symbols of the foundation of the city. Click here to see the gallery for &amp;quot;ELLE DECOR Goes to Birmingham&amp;quot;.  --&amp;amp;gt;   --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; 3 --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt;  --&amp;amp;gt;  ESSENTIAL BIRMINGHAM  The area code is 205.  Explore Mountain Brook. Four charming villages\u2014English, Mountain Brook, Cahaba, and Crestline\u2014make up this bucolic enclave southeast of downtown.  Hike it or bike it. Follow the creeks along Jemison Trail or escape to the nearby Oak or Ruffner Mountains for miles of wooded trails. A guided tour of the old railway tracks that circle Red Mountain (redmountainpark.org) might yield a mining relic or two.  Make your trip ironclad. Visit the largest cast-iron statue in the world, Vulcan (visitvulcan.com), the Roman god of the forge, a symbol of the city&amp;#039;s industrial past, or tour Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark (slossfurnaces.com), where iron was produced for nearly 90 years. Indulge in barbecue. You&amp;#039;ll have to eat your way through more than 80 spots\u2014including stalwarts Miss Myra&amp;#039;s (967-6004) and Full Moon (fullmoonbbq.com) as well as newcomers Moe&amp;#039;s (moesoriginalbbq.com) and Saw&amp;#039;s (sawsbbq.com)\u2014to decide the best.  WHAT TO SEE Alabama Ballet, alabamaballet.org: One of the South&amp;#039;s best companies, with repertory from the classical to the contemporary.  Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center, 1200 Tenth Ave. S., 975-ARTS; alysstephens.org: Its four venues, including Jemison Concert Hall, an acoustical marvel, are the place for music\u2014classical, jazz, and pop.  Birmingham Botanical Gardens, 2612 Lane Park Rd., 414-3950; bbgardens.org: Stop to smell the roses at the Dunn Formal Rose Garden; mark your calendar for the &amp;quot;Glorious Gardens&amp;quot; Mother&amp;#039;s Day weekend tour of the city&amp;#039;s finest private gardens.  Birmingham Museum of Art, 2000 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd., 254-2565; artsbma.org: Standout collections include French furniture and the largest array of Wedgwood china outside of England.  Jones Valley Urban Farm, 701 25th St. N., 322-0542; jvuf.org: A downtown block converted into a community garden and farm that provides organic produce to area green markets, restaurants, and stores. Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, 1530 Sixth Ave. N., 251-9402; 16thstreetbaptist.org and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, 520 16th St. N., 328-9696; bcri.org: Attend a service at the historic church, site of the tragic 1963 bombing; then tour the Institute across the street to immerse yourself in the struggle for equal rights. WHERE TO STAY Aloft, 1903 29th Ave. S., 874-8055; alofthotels.com: This chic new retreat near Soho Square in Homewood offers 111 well-appointed rooms and the popular W XYZ Bar in the lobby. Across the street, sample great sushi at Jinsei (1830 29th Ave. S., 802-1440; jinseisushi.com).  The Redmont Hotel, 2101 Fifth Ave. N., 324-2101; theredmont.com: Its landmark sign lights up the skyline, it has 114 guest rooms and suites, and its new rooftop bar has become a see-and-be-scene spot for locals.  The Tutwiler Hotel, 2021 Park Place, 322-2100; thetutwilerhotel.com: This historic downtown icon opened in 1914, and each of its 149 rooms was completely redone two years ago.  WHERE TO EAT Bottega Restaurant and Caf\u00E9, 2240 Highland Ave. S., 939-1000; bottegarestaurant.com: Chef Frank Stitt merges a penchant for Italian (try the caf\u00E9&amp;#039;s roasted-pepper-and-tomato-chutney pizza) with his Southern heritage.  Bottle Tree, 3719 Third Ave. S., 533-6288; thebottletree.com: The only excuse for passing on a PBR tallboy ($3) is their ginger margarita. Soups, salads, tacos, and some of the best live music in town. Caf\u00E9 Dupont, 113 20th St. N., 322-1282; cafedupont.net: Fresh foods, mostly organic, served in an 1870s storefront. The winter menu boasts cassoulet and short ribs.  The Garage Caf\u00E9, 2304 Tenth Terrace S., 322-3220; garagecafe.us: Enjoy sandwiches and ales amid an eclectic assortment of antiques.  GianMarco&amp;#039;s, 721 Broadway St., 871-9622: This Italian restaurant on a quiet residential street is a neighborhood favorite for its seafood specials.  Gilchrist Drug, 2805 Cahaba Rd., 871-2181: The ladies who lunch come for the BLTs; after school, kids on bikes pull up for the old-fashioned soda fountain. Birmingham native Courteney Cox orders the tuna-egg-salad sandwich with a limeade.  Highlands Bar and Grill, 2011 11th Ave. S., 939-1400; highlandsbarandgrill.com: Frank Stitt&amp;#039;s first restaurant put Birmingham on the culinary map by transforming humble Southern ingredients\u2014baked grits and bitter greens\u2014into haute cuisine.  Hot and Hot Fish Club, 2180 11th Ct. S., 933-5474; hotandhotfishclub.com: Sit at the chef&amp;#039;s counter to watch Chris Hastings deftly navigate the kitchen, creating his signature South Carolina low country\u2013inspired cooking.  Niki&amp;#039;s West, 233 Finley Ave. W., 252-5751; nikiswest.com: Meat and three (Southern slang for meat and three sides) served cafeteria style has lured lawyers and bankers since 1957. Rojo, 2921 Highland Ave. S., 328-4733; rojobirmingham.com: Place your order (ideally fish tacos) at the counter, take a number, then find a seat.  Urban Standard, 2320 Second Ave. N., 250-8200; urbanstandard.net: A sophisticated caf\u00E9 where UAB students mix with movers and shakers.  WHERE TO SHOP The Alabama Booksmith, 2626 19th Pl. S., 870-4242; alabamabooksmith.com: An unpretentious sanctuary with its own Signed First Editions club. A&amp;#039;Mano, 2707 Culver Rd., 871-9093; amanogifts.com: Quirky handmade artworks, many by locals. AMW, 1829 29th Ave. S., 870-3588: Estate jewelry and sterling silver plus vintage and contemporary photography tucked into an old antiques store.  Ashford Hill for Henhouse Antiques, 1900 Cahaba Rd., 918-0505; shophenhouseantiques.com: Primitive pieces juxtaposed with fine antiques.  Circa Interiors and Antiques, 2831 Culver Rd., 868-9199; circaonline.net: New furniture and fabrics mixed with 18th- and 19th-century furnishings.  Mary Evelyn, 2815A 18th St. S., 879-7544; maryevelyn.com: Elegant furnishings and works of art selected by designer Mary Evelyn McKee.  Peanut Depot, 2016 Morris Ave., 251-3314; peanutdepot.com: Supplying roasted, salted, Cajun, and raw peanuts for more than 100 years. Pepper Place, 29th St. S. at Second Ave. S., 802-2100; pepperplace.com: A former Dr. Pepper factory is now a mecca for interior-design fans, with home-furnishings shops, antiques, rug dealers, and more.  Robert Hill Antiques, 3029 Third Ave. S., 326-0088; roberthillantiques.com: Exquisite Continental antiques, formal and ecclesiastical\u2014a favorite among the city&amp;#039;s design cognoscenti. Theadora, 2821 18th St. S., 879-0335; theadora.com: Edgy women&amp;#039;s apparel with timeless appeal. Tricia&amp;#039;s Treasures, 2700 19th Pl. S., 871-9779: Prepare to spend hours sifting through this huge warehouse chock-full of everything from sterling silver to old door frames and shutters.  --&amp;amp;gt;   --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; --&amp;amp;gt; 4  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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