Kurla railway station is a major junction on the Central, Harbour and Trans-Harbour lines, and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Kurla East handles long-distance trains. LBS Marg, the Eastern Express Highway and the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (India's first double-decker flyover) connect Kurla to the rest of the city.

Mumbai Metro Lines 2B and 4 are under construction through the locality. Bandra Kurla Complex is 2 km away, Ghatkopar Metro Station 3 km, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport 7.5 km.

Kurla is home to Don Bosco Institute of Technology, an AICTE-approved engineering college affiliated with the University of Mumbai, offering computer science, IT, telecommunication and mechanical engineering courses. The locality also has numerous schools and junior colleges across Kurla East and West.

Dhirubhai Ambani International School is 3 km away and the American School of Bombay is within 5 km, both toward Bandra Kurla Complex.

Kurla was once Mumbai's largest suburban industrial belt, home to major cotton mills and to Premier Automobiles' car plant, which built the Fiat and the iconic Premier Padmini here from 1946 until the factory closed in 1997. That land is now Kohinoor City, an integrated commercial and retail township.

The Kurla-Ghatkopar-Vikhroli-Bhandup belt remains an established industrial and commercial corridor, and Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai's modern financial district, sits on Kurla's western edge.

Kurla's main heritage landmark is Holy Cross Church on Premier Road, built during Portuguese rule and rebuilt in 1848, one of Mumbai's oldest churches and the anchor of the historic East Indian Christian village that gives old Kurla its character.

Phoenix Marketcity on LBS Marg in Kurla West is one of Mumbai's largest malls, spanning 1.14 million sq ft with 311 stores, a 14-screen PVR multiplex and 70 restaurants.

It also houses Snow World, an indoor snowfall attraction, giving Kurla West a major entertainment and leisure hub within the locality itself.

The BMC has tendered a 4.2 km elevated flyover on LBS Marg from Kurla West to Ghatkopar West to ease chronic congestion at the Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road, Ghatkopar Station Road and Sant Narsi Mehta Road junctions.

The Santacruz-Chembur Link Road, opened in 2014, already connects Kurla's east and west across the rail line via a double-decker flyover, and Metro Lines 2B and 4 are under construction through the area.