Along the coast, away from the centre of Kadıköy, there are many expensive shops and the area becomes more upmarket in neighbourhoods such as Moda and Fenerbahçe, which are attractive, long-established residential areas. These both lie within the bounds of the borough of Kadıköy, and have many restaurants, cafés and bars by the sea. There is a path here along the sea-front from Kadıköy; the tram to Moda calls here. Moda is an old, quiet, cosmopolitan İstanbul neighbourhood, but is beginning to experience economic and aesthetic problems, with there being a lack of car parking and some run-down shops and other buildings. As elsewhere in İstanbul, many historic houses have been demolished and replaced with apartment buildings; however, Moda is generally considered one of the more pleasant residential districts in the city. There are numerous churches in Moda with active congregations, and well-known schools, such as the Lycée Saint-Joseph and Kadıköy Anadolu Lisesi. There is a small, attractive theatre in Moda named Oyun Atölyesi, founded by the former (BBC soap opera) EastEnders actor Haluk Bilginer. Another smart new district is Acıbadem. This area has one of the best-known private hospitals in the city and a long avenue of smart cafés, restaurants and ice cream parlours. Beyond this area, the huge stadium of Fenerbahçe Football Club dominates the skyline. From here, the long shopping street named Bağdat Caddesi (Baghdad Avenue) heads east and there are many affluent neighbourhoods between the avenue and the coast. Until the 1950s these areas, such as Kalamış, Göztepe, Caddebostan, Bağdad Avenue, Erenköy, and Suadiye, were full of summer houses and mansions for the city's wealthy upper middle class. Since the Bosphorus Bridge was built, it has become easier to commute from here to the European side of İstanbul, and most of these summer houses have been demolished and replaced with modern apartment buildings; however, these districts many still be considered among the most beautiful residential areas of the city. The coast here has a long stretch of seaside parks and yacht marinas, and the streets behind the coast in areas such as Caddebostan are lined with numerous bars and cafés. From Bostancı onwards the economic level progressively lessens, so there are more retired and working-class residents here. There are no more villas, excepting some on the coast at Dragos, and the apartment buildings are narrower and less widely spaced. Bostancı itself is a busy shopping district built around a railway station.

The major Haydarpaşa Terminal of the Turkish State Railways is located close to Kadıköy's center, serving east- and south-bound international, domestic and regional trains. Haydarpaşa Terminal was opened in 1908 as the terminus of the İstanbul-Baghdad and İstanbul-Damascus-Medina railways. This, along with the nearby Harem Bus Terminal, has services to Anatolia. The Söğütlüçeşme railway station, the next station to Haydarpaşa Terminal, is located also in Kadıköy. The terminus of the Metrobus line to European side of Istanbul is situated next to the railway station. The centre of Kadıköy today is the transportation hub for people commuting between the Asian side of the city and the European side across the Bosphorus. There is a large bus and minibus terminal next to the ferry docks. Ferries are the most dominantly visible form of transport in Kadıköy, and the central market area is adjacent to the ferry dock.

Shopping: Kadıköy is a busy shopping district, with a wide variety of atmospheres and architectural styles. The streets are varied, some being narrow alleyways and others, such as Bahariye Caddesi, being pedestrian zones. Turkey's biggest food market is there, starting next to the Osman Ağa Mosque, and has an immense turnover of fresh foods and other products from all around Turkey, including a wide range of fresh fish and seafood, olive oil soap, and so on. There are also modern shopping centres, most notably the large Tepe Nautilus Shopping Mall behind the center of Kadıköy, and pavements crowded with street vendors selling socks, pirated copies of popular novels, and other products. In the streets behind the main post office, there is a large number of well-known bookshops selling both new and second-hand books, craft-shops and picture-framers, and a number of shops selling music CDs and related ephemera such as film posters and t-shirts. Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music is sold in the arcade named Akmar Pasajı, where associated items are also sold. On Sundays this area becomes a large second-hand book and music street market. Being a crowded shopping district, Kadıköy has many buskers, shoe shine boys, glue sniffers and schoolchildren in the streets selling flowers, chewing gum and packets of tissues. At the top of the shopping district there is an intersection, with a statue of a bull, called Altıyol (Six Ways), where a road leads to the civic buildings and a huge street market called Salı Pazarı (Tuesday Market). The working-class residential districts of Hasanpaşa and Fikirtepe are located behind the civic buildings.

The district is home to the Turkish football club Fenerbahçe SK's home venue, the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium. Following important victories, all neighbourhoods of Kadıköy are crowded with celebrating people. The stadium hosted the 2009 UEFA Cup Final. The area also has a rugby union team, Kadıköy Rugby, which was the first official rugby club in Turkey. The multi-purpose arena of Caferağa Sport Hall, located in the center of Kadıköy's shopping district, is home to the basketball teams of Alpella (men team) and Fenerbahçe İstanbul (women team), volleyball teams (Fenerbahçe Men's Volleyball and Fenerbahçe Women's Volleyball).