The main commerce is along a strip on the Princes Highway near North Wollongong Station and the overpass as well as another strip on the north (western) side of the overpass including food stores.

North Wollongong is the terminal of Mount Ousley Road, the main route to Sydney.

[3] In 1893 Smiths Hill Fort was built to fend off possible Russian attack; two of the three original cannons remain.

The suburb achieved tourist popularity in the 1920s, and many Norfolk Island Pines planted during that era still remain.

North Wollongong has a beachside recreation ground, Stuart Park, which also houses the headquarters of Skydive the Beach.