Springvale is linked to the Melbourne CBD by Monash Freeway via the Ferntree Gully Road exit to the suburb's northwest.

The area contained natural springs which were a permanent water source for stock and travellers moving between Melbourne and Dandenong, giving rise to the suburb's name.

[citation needed] In the 1840s, Springvale was the residence of Christian Ludolph Johannes De Villiers; a South-African leader of the Native Police.

[2][3] In the 1850s, a Spring Vale Hotel was built by Matthew Bergin near a newly surveyed route between Oakleigh and Dandenong at what is now the intersection of Princes Highway and Springvale Road.

[citation needed] By the 1920s, the Spring Vale community had a lodge, brass band, a recreation reserve, a mechanics' institute, a few shops and some houses in the township.

[citation needed] At the outbreak of the Second World War, Springvale was a pastoral, residential and industrial township with market gardens in the surrounding areas.

Today, they make up the largest ethnic group in the area and Springvale is renowned for its Vietnamese shops, markets, and community.

Rates of migrant settlement are relatively high, with 8% of residents having arrived in Australia within the previous 2.5 years – similar to the figure for Greater Dandenong, of 7%.

[9] Median individual gross incomes of $352 p.w., recorded in the Census, are the lowest in Greater Dandenong and equivalent to 55% of metropolitan levels.

Springvale Neighbourhood House was established in 1983 with the aim of providing a resource centre for self-help, social, cultural and action groups.

[12] South Springvale SC compete in the Victorian State League Division 1 and play their home games at Warner Reserve.

The Victorian branch of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA) operates the SSAA Springvale Range – the only handgun/rifle shooting range in metropolitan Melbourne that is open daily to non-licensed members of the general public, located on the north side of the Princes Highway just west of the Springvale Botanical Cemetery.