Riversdale (Saskatoon) | neighbourhood

 neighbourhood, invisible

Riversdale (originally "Riverdale") was Saskatoon's first subdivision. At first dubbed "Richville" (after an original settler), the area was homesteaded in the 1890's. Settlement in what is now downtown Saskatoon first spilled over the tracks into Richville in 1903, around the time the Barr Colonists arrived and set up temporary camps there.

It was incorporated as a village on 16 January, 1905, and boasted 73 buildings including a hotel, blacksmiths shop, livery feed stable, general store and three lumber yards. Built for "profit rather than amenities", Riversdale had narrower streets and (often) shallower lots than was the norm in the other areas of Saskatoon.

In 1906 the village amalgamated with the settlements of Nutana and Saskatoon to form the City of Saskatoon. The area is rich in history, and is where many of the ethnic minorities (Ukrainian, Chinese and others) that settled in Saskatoon called home.

Unfortunately, Riversdale fell into decline by the 1960s and became one of Saskatoon's poorest neighbourhoods. At present it remains so, second only to neighbouring Pleasant Hill. However, there have been efforts to turn the area around, most notably the nearby River Landing development. Gentrification is slowly starting to turn the neighbourhood's fortunes around.
www.saskatoon.ca/org/city_planning/zam_maps/index.asp
www.riversdale.ca