Story time: I was a pre-teen Archie Comics superfan.
I also happened to grow up in a town called Riverdale in The Bronx, New York. In a classic "chicken and egg" situation, I'm not sure which came first: My family's move to Riverdale or my obsession with Archie Comics, which — if somehow you missed it — takes place in a town called Riverdale.
Here are a few points I'd like to make up front:
1. Riverdale from the comics (and TV show) is not necessarily the same neighborhood as Riverdale in the Bronx. In one of the comics, the editors said this about Riverdale's location: "Riverdale is more of a state of mind than an actual physical location. It could be anywhere that kind people live and just have fun, like Archie and his friends. It could be in the Midwest, or along the Eastern Seaboard, or even a town in Canada, Mexico, or England."
2. However, on the show in Season One, there's a reference to Rockland County, which is a real county not too far from New York City.
3. Archie Comics IS based out of Mamaroneck, NY (in Westchester, which is approximately a 30-minute drive from my Riverdale) so it is fair to say that the NAME of Riverdale comes from the Riverdale I grew up in.