A Little About Riverdale, Georgia

 Chris has the nightly habit of wanting to get out of the house and go somewhere.  Usually, he ends up at a Quik Trip getting a drink or something.  I never really understood why, I didn’t think my company was THAT bad.  For several years we would always end up on Upper Riverdale Road at the Quik Trip by the hospital. 

Riverdale is situated in mid- western Clayton County, Georgia. Its boundaries pretty well parallel Georgia Highway 85 in a north to south direction. At one time, a rail road track ran north to south through Riverdale generally along the current path of Georgia Highway 85. It is along this track that Riverdale had its beginnings.

Riverdale became known as a “boom town” in the 1980’s. Georgia Highway 85 experienced an explosion of growth, and other areas of Riverdale grew rapidly both commercially and residentially. Those close-by areas of Clayton County, outside the city limits of Riverdale, also experienced similar growth.

Much of the growth in and around Riverdale was due to the rapid growth occurring in Fayette County to the south. Georgia Highway 85, being the major connector between most of Fayette County and Atlanta, benefitted greatly from the growth of Fayette County.

Also in the 1980’s, Southern Regional Medical Center (Then known as Clayton General Hospital) had a significant impact of the economy of the Riverdale area. During the 1990’s, due to an increase in the number of local hospitals, medical space suffered experienced a recovery after a turn of the century.

Riverdale’s economy is greatly influenced by the Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport and its related support businesses. Many of the residents in the area work at the Airport or in jobs directly related to the airport. Thus, even the non-airport related businesses are heavily dependent on the income earned by airport workers.

Although no interstates run through the city, Riverdale has easy four-lane access to Interstates 75, 85 and 285, all of which are only minutes away.