River city - a city with a river running through it? [closed]

Solution 1:

Clarification: as far as I know, "River City" is not an established, generic phrase, but more likely a nickname that each of these has adopted as a proper noun.

Sure, a city "on" a river might have the river running "through" it, or merely alongside. Since rivers make easy natural transportation routes, cities have often sprung up on their banks. If there is no natural geographical obstacle to it, they might often spill onto the opposite bank as well (London, Paris). In some cases that might be impractical, but a city can be "on" a river by being only "on" one side of it, just as it might be "on" a bay or "on" the ocean.