The neighborhood is in the South Bronx in the southwestern part of the borough, centered on the intersection of Grand Concourse and 161st Street.

[7] It is bordered to the west by Highbridge and the Harlem River; to the north by Mount Eden; to the east by Claremont Village, Melrose, and Morrisania; and to the south by Mott Haven.

The neighborhood character is more industrialized along the river with the exception of park space and the Bronx Terminal Market.

In fact, George Washington and his troops utilized some of these elevations during the American Revolutionary War as vantage points to monitor activity along the Harlem River.

From European settlement through the late 1800s, the Concourse area occupied wooded lands and rocky formations within and on the periphery[7] of the estate of the prominent Morris family who farmed in what is now Southwest Bronx.

The IRT Jerome Avenue Line opened a decade later in 1917 and spurred enormous development in the area.

Modeled after Paris' Champs-Élysées, the original boulevard stretched from the Bronx Courthouse to near Van Cortlandt Park, but was later extended south to 138th Street by supplanting the existing Mott Avenue.

[14] The new construction to accommodate those residents was inspired by the City Beautiful movement and the 1901 Tenement House Act, which mandated light, air, and fire protection.

The Concourse inspired visits by presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and John F. Kennedy.

The Bronx Terminal Market opened in 2009 as did the adjacent Mill Pond Park, which includes a Stadium Tennis Center.

In 2011, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated a large portion of the neighborhood as the Grand Concourse Historic District.

[3] In 2016, the New York City Economic Development Corporation issued requests for proposals for a new redevelopment project in the Concourse, along the Harlem River shore.

A $300 million proposal, announced in September 2017, includes 1,045 affordable housing units as well as a new Universal Hip Hop Museum that is to open in 2020.

The first of two phases will have 600 affordable unites, a 2.3-acre (0.93 ha) waterfront promenade, a public plaza, a performance space, a movie theater, and the hip hop museum.

Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], Concourse and Highbridge are considered low-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

[21]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Concourse and Highbridge is 0.0083 milligrams per cubic metre (8.3×10−9 oz/cu ft), more than the city average.

At the center of the neighborhood and to the north of Bronx Courthouse, Joyce Kilmer Park and Lou Gehrig Plaza border the intersection of the Grand Concourse and 161st Street.

Originally called Concourse Plaza, Joyce Kilmer Park was named for the author of the poem "Tree" in 1926.

[40] Joyce Kilmer Park contains the Lorelei Fountain which celebrates the German poet Heinrich Heine.

To the south is Lou Gehrig Plaza, which bridges 161st Street between the Bronx Courthouse and Joyce Kilmer Park.

Named for Franz Sigel, a patriot and educator in his native Germany and the United States who lived in the area until his death in 1902, the park is characterized by variations in elevation and bedrock.

Formerly part of a Native American trail, a visitor can view Manhattan and surrounding rooftops from the terrace within the park.

[43] The second floor of the Power house in Mill Pond Park is the future home of the Bronx Children's Museum.

[21]: 6  The percentage of Concourse and Highbridge students excelling in math rose from 17% in 2000 to 40% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 21% to 25% during the same time period.

[22]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [21]: 6  Additionally, 67% of high school students in Concourse and Highbridge graduate on time, lower than the citywide average of 75%.