East Hills has four borders, including Penn Hills to the north and northeast, Wilkinsburg to the east, south and southwest, and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Homewood South to the west and Homewood North to the northwest.

Anchored by a Joseph Horne Company store, the mall became largely vacant in the 1980s and was ultimately demolished.

The East Hills neighborhood has five distinct flights of city steps - all of which are open.

Constructed in the late 1940s, the Steps of Pittsburgh were designed to connect pedestrians to public transportation and the business corridors in Homewood and Wilkinsburg.

While the East Hills neighborhood has suffered from depopulation in more recent decades, the city steps along Dornbush Street are popular with runners and cyclists.