The neighbourhood is located in the eastern part of Thornton Heath, and contains the eastern section of the town centre and high street, including Thornton Heath railway station itself. The town centre is located in the south-eastern segment, which features numerous stores as well as a Tesco Superstore. The boundaries of East Thornton Heath make up a sort of long triangle, pointed towards the south. The western border follows the railway line, while the eastern border (facing Grangewood Park) follows Beauchamp Road and Grange Road, meeting the western border at Whitehorse Manor Junior School. The northern border, faces Norbury as well as Norbury Park and roughly corresponds to Kensington Avenue and Virginia Road. Green Lane runs parallel to the western border, about a third of the width of the postcode sector (with respects to the west), and splits East Thornton Heath into the sports and school grounds to the west and the residential area to the east (it merges with the High Street to the south, and the east-west distinction terminates there). The eastern segment also contains a large area for allotments. There are a number of schools and nurseries in the area, including David Livingstone Primary School, Kensington Avenue Primary School, St. James Great Primary and Nursery, The Ark Montessori Nursery, LaDels Day Nursery, Shining Stars Nursery, Beulah Infant and Nursery School, the Croydon School of Gymnastics and the aforementioned Whitehorse Manor Junior School.

Beulah Infant and Nursery School traces its history back to 1864, when the Surrey Congregational Union Chapel (located where the school stands today) was used as a school room. The Croydon School Board took over the building in 1871, and it has seen consistent use as a school ever since, except for a period from 1940 to 1944 during the Second World War when the government closed the school and many children were evacuated.

John Cator owned Whitehorse Manor, the area near Grangewood Park, prior to the arrival of the railways, and it was he who enclosed the area in 1797. John Cator was a rich timber merchant and East India Company stockholder, who was perennially a Member of Parliament through various cases of corruption and bribery. Besides Thornton Heath, the Cator family also owned estates in other parts of South London, such as Beckenham and Blackheath Park, each of which the family would develop and later sell for a hefty prot. He died in 1806, “immensely rich”.

Spa Hill Allotments is 300-spots strong, spread over 22 acres, with an extremely long waiting list. Spa Hill is immediately adjacent to the main residential area, crucial as its policy is to offer allotments to those who live within a two-kilometre radius from the site, a criterion that applies to the entire postcode sector. The allotment has been functioning for around 150 years, with some plots remaining in the same family for three generations. If owning a plot is unattainable, a ‘Garden membership’ is still available at £2.10. The allotment also provides sanctuary for the local wildlife.

East Thornton Heath is home to a diverse community, with a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses being based in the area, as well as St. Cyprian’s Greek Orthodox School, part of a network of schools aiming to serve the Greek community in London as well as teach their language and culture.

Residents have pointed out that the crowds in the area can swell whenever nearby Crystal Palace plays at home. This encourages other petty social ills such as fly-tipping. The area, however, is gradually being improved by the council and the increasing number of families which have moved to the area.

It seems that the local council has been encouraging new development in Thornton Heath. With an agenda to build 30,000 homes in the borough over the next 20 years, a number of big developers have been attracted to the area, especially given the council’s eagerness to cooperate. In 2021, it was announced that developer Bramble Estates will be developing 58 homes adjacent Thornton Heath station. In 2022, housing provider Optivo was granted permission to deliver 75 homes at 304-306 Bensham Lane in the area. Optivo had already been building 44 new affordable homes on the site next door, in addition to a further 20 on the same street. Between 2016 and 2020, the council had also been actively engaged in the regeneration of Thornton Heath High Street and Brigstock Road through funding from the GLA. In addition to major public realm and pedestrian mobility enhancements, the council improved and enhanced shopfronts and building frontages, and completed high level artwork murals, all with the collaboration of locals from the area.