The New Haven Green is a 16 acre rectangle in the center of the city east of Yale University and north and west of the downtown commercial area. It is bordered by Elm Street on the north, Church Street on the east, Chapel Street on the south and College Street on the west. Temple Street bisects it, dividing it into two rectangles, the Lower Green being somewhat narrower than the Upper Green. Temple, Elm and Church and College Streets are multi-laned, one-way streets. The heavy traffic on Chapel Street travels in both directions. Along Elm, Church, Chapel and College streets is a decorative fence with metal rails and masonry posts (1846) that has recently been restored.

Around the perimeter of the Lower Green are two rows of Elm trees that shade wide gravel paths bordered by granite paving stones. Asphalt paths radiate inwards from the corners diagonally across the green or toward the center where the Memorial Monument Flagstaff is situated. It is one of two major monuments on the green. The other, Bennet Memorial Fountain, is located at the corner of Chapel and Church Streets. Benches are situated around the Lower Green along the paths. The area along Chapel Street and at the corner of Chapel and Church Streets is paved brick to accommodate the pedestrians that use the bus stop and shop at the mall across the street.

The Upper Green is graced by three 19th century churches that face Temple Street including Trinity Episcopal, First Church of Christ (Center Church) and the United Church of Christ. Each was designed by well respected architects including Ithiel Town, Asher Benjamin and David Hoadley. The perimeter of the upper green is planted with elm trees but in the interior are randomly placed mature shade trees of several species including maple and oak. Two paths radiate diagonally across the green from the corners of College and Chapel and College and Elm Streets toward the churches along Temple Street. Another transverses it from east to west.

The green is surrounded by a tight wall of buildings varying greatly in age and building type. While the high-rise office buildings along Church Street are historically inappropriate for the green and cast a long shadow on it on sunny mornings, the green is large enough that it is not overwhelmed by the height.

To the north facing the green on Elm Street is the New Haven Library and State Supreme Court building with a Greek-templed front. Also along this street are the oldest buildings facing the green, three 19th century wood frame houses, and a Methodist Church. To the east is the Federal Courthouse, another temple-fronted structure and high-rise office buildings. One replaces a portion of the Gothic Town Hall. On the corner of Chapel and Church Streets is the newly restored Exchange Building (1832-33), a four-story Greek Revival commercial building now used by the Bank of Boston. Along Chapel Street to the south is the core of New Haven's commercial district consisting of the high-rise Park Plaza Hotel, a modern shopping mall late-19th and early-20th two, three and four story buildings. To the west along College Street is Yale's "Old Campus."