The modern town centre of Harrow developed at the foot of the hill, in an area historically called Greenhill, following the opening of Harrow-on-the-Hill station on the Metropolitan Railway in 1880.

The modern-day town meanwhile is an established commercial centre of outer north-west London and houses a campus of the University of Westminster.

[9] The original Greenhill hamlet derived its name from either an unidentified local green hill, or was imported from a manorial surname.

In 1850 a local board district was established for the central part of the ancient parish of Harrow on the Hill, including the old village and the adjoining hamlets of Greenhill, Roxeth, and Sudbury.

[12] By 1865, a series of roads had been built in Greenhill, including College, Roxborough, Kymberley, Headstone, Clarendon, Byron and St Anns - but few houses.

[15] The Metropolitan Railway connection dates from 1880 with the building of Harrow-on-the-Hill station, which led to a housebuilding boom[16] and a population of 4,892 by 1902.

[25] Almost two-thirds of housing stock in the present day Borough of Harrow dates back to the interwar period.

[31] The borough's council Civic Centre building complex was built in 1970–1972, opened 6 May 1973, on Station Road in Wealdstone.

[32] Six storeys high and designed by architect Eric Broughton, the building is considered "outdated and costly" in 2018 and was expected to be imminently redeveloped.

It contains almost one thousand photographic tiles representing Harrow and designed to commemorate the town and borough's links with Kodak.

[35] A plaque on Katie was unveiled in 2004 by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to mark the 50th anniversary of the London Borough of Harrow.

[35] In the autumn of 1987, Diana, Princess of Wales visited Harrow, where she officially opened the new St Anns shopping centre amid a large crowd of locals.

The town's Woolworths store on Station Road closed and was replaced by a new branch inside St George's.

[43] Former office buildings on Lyon Road (including Coal House, once belonging to the National Coal Board) have been regenerated into new mixed use buildings in the 2010s, whereas on Pinner Road behind St George's centre a new eight storey development called Trident Point was built which includes a Morrisons supermarket opened in 2013.

[44] The former post-office sorting building on College Road, next to the train station, remained vacant for some years until plans for a 19-storey skyscraper were approved by the council in 2015.

[50] The borough received a £1 million grant from the Mayor of London that will go towards a new public square and a "pop-up test eatery" at the site of the former Cumberland Hotel on Lyon Road, expected to be completed by 2020.

[52][53] The council aims to invest over a billion in the town centres of Harrow and Wealdstone and the Station Road corridor in between.

[54] The borough of Harrow has a leafy, suburban character, much of which is a legacy of it being at the centre of the Metroland developments of the early 20th century.

[56] The hill is half a mile south of the town centre, and the settlement contains historic architecture and has a village atmosphere.

After Debenhams was liquidated, the site is to become an independent department store called The Landmark due to open on 14 October 2021.

[64] In 2015, Harrow ranked 99th in the Hot 100 UK retail locations published by CACI; it was 5th in Greater London, behind Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Bromley and Enfield Town.

[66][67] The Wealdstone district has a strong industrial connection, having been the location for the manufactures Winsor & Newton (artists' materials), Whitefriars Glass, and Kodak.

[citation needed] According to a 2018 survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the borough of Harrow was the "happiest" in London and scored higher than the English average.

The theatre's original Wurlitzer organ is retained in the building, although currently not accessible to the public,[79] although it reported to remain in perfect working condition.

[78] An art-deco cinema called Dominion opened in 1936 adjoining Lower Mead football ground, on much of the site of Greenhill Farm.

This closed in the 20teens and it was not until January 2020 when plans to restore the art deco (and building 78 flats at the site) were approved by Harrow council.

Harrow is served by many London Underground and National Rail services: Harrow-on-the-Hill is the town's central station, located on College Road/Lowlands Road.

The station provides direct Underground and rail links to the West End, the City, Uxbridge, and through the Chiltern Hills to Aylesbury.

Trains towards Gerrards Cross are served by the smaller Sudbury Hill Harrow station which also provides an alternative route towards the West Midlands.

[93] All buses are managed by Transport for London and links are provided to Ruislip, Watford, Edgware, Northwood, Golders Green, Wembley, Ealing, Hayes and Heathrow Airport.