Arlington South has been a part of the City of Riverside since its incorporation in 1883. Victoria Avenue, an important historic feature listed on the National Register of Historic Places, generally forms the southern boundary of the Arlington South neighborhood. The Riverside (91) Freeway forms the northern edge. The eastern and western edges of the neighborhood are Jackson and Tyler Streets, respectively.
Arlington South is predominately a residential neighborhood with concentrated areas of commercial and industrial development.
The southwestern edge of the neighborhood, known as Poppy Hill, is located within the City’s greenbelt and is generally characterized by ranch style homes on large, deep lots, some with citrus trees relating to the rural character of the greenbelt extending further south. The remaining residential area consists of mostly medium-density, single-story tract home development built during the 1970’s. This residential area generally borders the City's agricultural greenbelt located south of Victoria Avenue.
A variety of retail and office commercial uses are located along Indiana Avenue and Riverside Freeway frontage at the north edge of the neighborhood. Centrally located within the neighborhood is an industrial business park and the northeast portion of the neighborhood also includes industrial uses. Located along Van Buren Boulevard is Lincoln Plaza, a retail center serving the neighborhood and the Van Buren Drive-In theatre. New signs have been installed and recent landscape upgrades were made to the entrance of the Drive-in located along Van Buren. In addition, the educational and recreation needs of the neighborhood are served by Harrison School and Park. Both facilities are centrally located within the neighborhood.
Arlington South has two active neighborhood groups including the South Arlington Neighborhood Watch Association (SANWA) being the "eyes and ears" for the Police Department reporting what is going on in the neighborhood and the Poppy Hill neighborhood group which is very active in improving the neighborhood.