[3] As defined by the Riverview Park Community Association, the neighbourhood is bounded on the west by the Rideau River, on the north by the CN railway tracks, on the east by St. Laurent Boulevard, and on the south by Smyth Road.

The area now known as Riverview was mostly farmland belonging to the Township of Gloucester until it was annexed by the city of Ottawa in 1950.

During this time, the only settlement was on the northern edge of what is today Riverview, and was the village of Hurdman's Bridge.

[5] In the 1950s the neighbourhood was primarily built-up to serve the post-war baby boom era.

Hurdman's Bridge would be eventually demolished to make way for a parkland, rail land, and the new Queensway freeway.

Over the next few decades, housing for lower class and lower-middle-class people were also built in the mostly middle-class neighbourhood.

Construction of low-rent housing on Station Boulevard was opposed by many of the community's residents, as well as both of the area's aldermen.

There are also five churches, a fire hall, a community centre (Dempsey), two shopping areas, and a number of parks.

The neighbourhood is served by the Dempsey Community Centre and is home to the Ottawa Life Sciences Technology Park.

The neighbourhood is home to the Lycée Claudel school and borders on the Rideau River.

This area is home to Dale Park, which has a tennis facility in the summer and has an outdoor ice rink in the winter.

It has access on the west to Balena Park, and has new townhouses on its north side off Coronation Avenue.

Faircrest Heights (North) The southwest is the part of Riverview that is home to the majority of all the hospitals and the Medical Centre.

[14] Ottawa Life Sciences Technology Park This area was first built up in the 1990s and is located off Smyth Road.

It is separated from the rest of Riverview by power lines, and from Elmvale Acres by Smyth Road.

Built in the 1950s, it is home to Vincent Massey Public School, Hutton Park and two churches.

St. Laurent Boulevard on the east is home to many commercial establishments and is within view of the National Museum of Science and Technology.

49% of Riverview residents have English as their sole mother tongue, 16% French, 7% Arabic, 4% varieties of Chinese (including Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Taiwanese, Chaochow, Fukien and Shanghainese, Chinese n.o.s as defined by Statistics Canada[16]), 1% Somali, 1% Persian and 1% are Spanish.