Riverview first became a permanent settlement when settlers from Yorkshire, England, settled there in 1733. The Town of Riverview was formed on July 9, 1973 with the amalgamation of the three villages of Bridgedale, Gunningsville and Riverview Heights. Harold Findlay became the first mayor and seven councillors were elected at-large to serve a population of 14,177. Since that time, Riverview has grown to include almost 19,130 represented by four ward councillors and three councillors-at-large.
Demographics
Riverview's linguistic majority is English, with 90.6% speaking English as a first language and only 7.8% speaking French as a first language. The adjacent cities of Moncton and Dieppe are about 32% and 73% Francophone respectively and have benefited from an ongoing rural depopulation of the Acadian Peninsula and areas in northern and eastern New Brunswick. About 27% of the town population is bilingual and understands both English and French.
Neighbourhoods
Riverview has six main neighbourhoods, each with several smaller subdivisions:
Parklanes Bowling Centre - 12 candlepin bowling lanes with automatic scoring
Events
Riverview Sunfest is an annual festival of events to celebrate the incorporation of Riverview as a town and Canada Day.
Urban parks
Caseley Park - A large park in front of town hall named after former mayor of Riverview, Ralph Caseley. The park includes a monument of a Centurion Tank and a monument to the victims of the Polytechnique massacre.
Mill Creek Nature Park - a 217 ha nature park with a network of formal and informal trails.
Bridgedale Centre Play Area
Dobson Trail
Gunningsville Boulevard
Hawthorne Play Area
Riverview Lions Community Park
Places of interest
Moncton Air Traffic Control Centre - The town is home to one of seven Nav Canada Area Control Centres, serving Air Traffic over New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and eastern Quebec. The Centre controls all air traffic between Europe and Eastern Canada. This centre monitors over 430,000 flights a year, 80% of which are either entering or leaving North American airspace.
There are currently seven schools in Riverview, including one high school, one middle school, and five elementary schools. In December 2011, it was officially announced that a new K-8 school would be constructed in East Riverview that is expected to open for the 2013 school year.
