The Barclays Center, home to the NBA's Brooklyn Nets basketball team, is located in the northwestern corner of the neighborhood in Pacific Park at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues.

Compared to other Brooklyn neighborhoods, Prospect Heights is relatively small and is notable for its cultural diversity as well as its tree-lined streets.

Prospect Heights has seen rapid demographic changes over the 2000s, and its shifts are exemplified by a mixture of older buildings under reconstruction, rows of classic 1890s brownstones, and newly built luxury condominiums.

Defunct bakeries and factory spaces line Pacific Street from Vanderbilt Avenue to Carlton Avenue, and some have recently been renovated and converted into lofts; still others have recently been purchased by developer Bruce Ratner in anticipation of his Pacific Park project.

An upscale, glass high-rise residential building designed by the architect Richard Meier and located off of Grand Army Plaza was completed in 2008.

[12] This included the construction of the Barclays Center, an arena to serve as a new home for the Brooklyn Nets basketball team, as well as housing and commercial space in a cluster of high-rise buildings much taller than the borough's existing low-rise architecture.

A number of community groups opposed the project, claiming abuse of the principles of eminent domain, among other concerns.

The Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, built in 1912 in Spanish Colonial style, is located at 856 Pacific Street between Vanderbilt and Underhill Avenues in Prospect Heights.

As part of the Commissioners' Plan of 1839, this was redrawn to better match the rest of Brooklyn,[15] resulting in several buildings that are oddly-shaped or face the street at an angle.

[17]: 7 A diverse ethnic neighborhood in the 1910s through the 1960s, combining Italian, Irish, Jewish, German, Greek and Yankee residents, Prospect Heights is currently well known for its mixed black and white culture.

During the last thirty years, the neighborhood has seen an influx of new residents, increasingly young and white,[21] perhaps due to real estate prices slightly lower than neighboring Park Slope.

A thriving commercial zone has emerged along Vanderbilt Avenue and Washington Avenue, which since 2000 has seen a surge in new bars, restaurants, and specialty shops, including a restaurant opened by Michelin-starred chef Saul Bolton, and stores emphasizing gourmet ice cream and even, for a while, artisanal mayonnaise.

[17]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, is 0.008 milligrams per cubic metre (8.0×10−9 oz/cu ft) in Community District 8, slightly higher than the citywide and boroughwide averages.

[17]: 12 Eighty-four percent of Community District 8 residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is slightly lower than the city's average of 87%.

[30] Community District 8's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is higher than the rest of New York City.