The southern part of the original settlement along Malabar Road was known locally as India.

Malabar is a heavily residential area, with small to medium - size businesses distributed along its main thoroughfares.

The late 1960s and 1970s saw the establishment of a number of residential areas by private developers in the district.

The Trinidad and Tobago government's Malabar housing project is currently divided into four Phases, numbered in order of establishment: Up to the late 1960s southern Malabar, currently the housing project, was covered by light forest and was known for large number of guava trees that grew there.

Caimans, tortoises, green parrots, parakeets and various fish such as guppy (Poecilia reticulata), cascarob (a type of cichlid) and guabin (hoplias malabiricus) were quite common in the area but have virtually disappeared with the removal of the native forests.