Blue Jay's housing stock reflects its mountain setting. Homes range from cozy cabins and A-frames to larger chalet-style houses and modern mountain retreats, many tucked among towering pines on sloping, wooded lots. Part of the community consists of vacation and second homes, which brings a seasonal character to the local housing landscape, while a stable base of year-round residents anchors the area. The village center is surrounded by residential streets and forest parcels, and buyers are typically drawn by the four-season climate, proximity to Lake Arrowhead, and the appeal of a national-forest setting rather than by large planned subdivisions. Home construction is generally low-density, in keeping with the mountain environment.

Blue Jay is compact and functions as the commercial and civic core of the Lake Arrowhead area rather than a collection of distinct residential neighborhoods. The village center along State Route 189 holds the shops, restaurants, and library, while residential streets and cabin-lined lanes climb the surrounding hillsides and forested ridges. The community blends at its edges into the neighboring mountain settlements of Agua Fria, Twin Peaks, and Cedar Glen, and is about a mile from Lake Arrowhead Village and the lake itself. Homes are spread through the pines on individual lots, giving the area a forested, low-density character distinct from the more compact village core.

Blue Jay offers a classic Southern California mountain lifestyle. The village provides everyday conveniences — a grocery store, dining, banking, and the local library — that make it a practical anchor for the lake communities, while the surrounding forest and Lake Arrowhead supply year-round recreation, from boating and fishing in summer to skiing and snow play at nearby resorts in winter. Community events such as the Blue Jay Christmas parade and the Blue Jay Jazz Festival, along with the Lake Arrowhead film celebration, give the area a lively local calendar. The Ice Castle International Training Center adds a distinctive athletic presence. Residents trade the pace of the Inland Empire below for pine-shaded streets, cooler summers, and a close-knit mountain-town feel.

Blue Jay is the headquarters of the Rim of the World Unified School District, which operates elementary, middle, and high schools serving the San Bernardino mountain communities, including Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs, and the surrounding area. The district's roughly 2,900 students attend a handful of campuses spread across the mountain corridor, with bus routes linking the dispersed communities. Because the district serves a large and rugged geographic area, schools function as central institutions for mountain families. The community's role as the district's administrative home reinforces Blue Jay's status as a civic hub for the region.

Blue Jay sits along State Route 189, which connects the community to Lake Arrowhead and the Lake Arrowhead Village area to the northeast and to the Rim of the World Highway (State Route 18) to the southwest. State Route 18, in turn, winds down the mountain toward San Bernardino and the Inland Empire, and continues along the crest toward Big Bear Lake and Running Springs. Winter snow can affect travel on the mountain roads, and chains are sometimes required during storms. There is no rail service in the mountains, so residents rely on personal vehicles for the steep drive to and from the lowlands. The community's position makes it the first major stop for traffic arriving at Lake Arrowhead from the south.

Recreation in Blue Jay revolves around Lake Arrowhead and the San Bernardino National Forest. Lake Arrowhead, about a mile from the village, offers boating, water sports, and lakeside trails, with Lake Gregory in nearby Crestline providing public swimming and fishing. The national forest surrounding the community holds hundreds of miles of hiking and mountain-biking trails, and winter brings snow play and skiing within a short drive at Snow Valley and other San Bernardino Mountain resorts. The Ice Castle International Training Center carries on Blue Jay's long skating tradition. Community events — the Christmas parade, jazz festival, and film celebrations — round out a recreation calendar shaped by the mountains and the seasons.