It has a quaint village atmosphere with a number of cafes, coffee shops and restaurants (Greek, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese), take-away food outlets, gourmet food outlets, clothing stores, boutique homewares, hairdressers, professional offices, multi-story apartments, real estate agents, bakeries, a modern bookshop, a news agency, Coles supermarket, a health food store, a chemist, an award-winning library,[5] a historical society, a large modern police station, a medical centre, a Life Saving club, a wine store, a bank, a large modern hotel (The Sandy) with a balcony overlooking the bay, an English pub with live music, a bike track and a coastal walking track.

Buses travel between the Sandringham railway station and St Kilda, Westfield Southland, Chadstone shopping centre and other places.

[6] Sandringham is home to C Company of the Australian Army Reserve unit, 5th/6th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment.

[11] The Sandringham Football Club, known as the Zebras, of the Victorian Football League, has had a number of players go on to play in the AFL, including Trevor Barker, Ian Cooper, radio personality Rex Hunt, Andrew Krakouer, Paul Dimattina, Matthew Warnock, Ted Richards and Tom Langdon.

[15] The R G Chisholm Reserve (known locally as the Duncan Street Oval) is also home to the East Sandringham Junior Football Club, which produced future Brownlow Medallists Chris Judd and Jobe Watson.

[17] The city also hosts the Sandringham Amateur Athletic Club which was founded at a meeting held on 8 April 1930.