Best Areas to Live in Homewood
Homewood's real character shows up most clearly at the neighborhood level -- four distinct districts, each with its own real identity, rather than one uniform suburb.
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Learn moreEdgewood: the most walkable, family-favored district
Edgewood is considered one of Homewood's most desirable neighborhoods -- a mostly single-family residential area loved for its walkability, older architecture, and highly ranked schools. It is cited as one of the most walkable neighborhoods in the entire Birmingham metro, with homes on smaller lots within a short walk of Edgewood Elementary, Oxmoor Road shops and restaurants, and Homewood Central Park.
Hollywood: a genuinely unique architectural pocket
Hollywood, Homewood's historic district, was originally developed in the 1920s as a Mediterranean-inspired community. It is known for distinctive Spanish tile-roofed homes along Hollywood Boulevard and Bonita Drive -- a real architectural character not found elsewhere in Alabama.
West Homewood: the most affordable, and rising
Once the more affordable corner of Homewood, West Homewood has been on a genuine, sustained upward trajectory for the past decade -- charming bungalows and cottages with walkability to its own Patriot Park, the West Homewood community center, and a growing cluster of restaurants near Oxmoor Road. Its February 2026 median sale price ($484K) still ran below the citywide figure.
Rosedale and SoHo Square: Homewood's founding neighborhood and modern civic core
Rosedale, Edgewood, and Grove Park merged in 1926 to found what is now Homewood. Today, SoHo Square -- a 4-story, $55 million mixed-use redevelopment anchored by Homewood City Hall -- serves as the city's modern civic and commercial core, blending historic architecture with fresh urban design since major streetscape projects reenergized the area starting in the early 1990s.
Key takeaways
- Edgewood is Homewood's most walkable, family-favored neighborhood, within walking distance of its own elementary school, shops, and Homewood Central Park.
- Hollywood offers a genuinely unique Mediterranean-inspired, Spanish tile-roofed architectural character dating to the 1920s.
- West Homewood, historically the most affordable corner of the city, is on a real, sustained upward trajectory -- its February 2026 median ($484K) still ran below the citywide figure.
- SoHo Square, anchored by Homewood City Hall, serves as the modern civic and commercial core of a city whose roots trace to the 1926 merger of Rosedale, Edgewood, and Grove Park.
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