Riverside is a residential suburb 4 kilometres north-west of the central business district of Launceston, Tasmania's second largest city. The West Tamar Highway runs through the suburb, adjoining Riverside to the West Tamar, which includes small towns: Beaconsfield, George Town and Beauty Point. Riverside is part of the West Tamar Council local government area, despite its close proximity to the Launceston CBD. The suburb is now Launceston's largest by population, narrowly ahead of Kings Meadows, nevertheless, it lacks in shopping facilities, with only a small $2 million centre which opened in the 1980s. The Riverside Shopping Centre as it is known, includes: a Woolworths supermarket, a Banjos bakery and a pharmacist.