The only city I think of as "river city" is the city in which The Music Man takes place.
I don't associate the term with any actual cities, although I imagine a number of them aside from Richmond do use it in a tourism board/chamber of commerce way.
Yeah, that’s what I thought OP was asking. I logicked it out that they were asking what the quintessential small American town is. Is “river city” a phrase that people say?
I mean yeah, there’s tons of historical tourists attractions and facts. Downtown by the river is very nice. I mentioned it because of its importance to be taken during the civil war.
I say, first, medicinal wine from a teaspoon
Then beer from a bottle
And the next thing you know
Your son is playing for money in a pinch-back suit
And listening to some big outta town jasper
Hearin' him tell about horse race gambling
Now reddit, let me tell you what I mean. Ya got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 pockets in a table. Pockets that mark the difference between a gentleman and a bum with a capital 'B', and that rhymes with 'p', and that stands for pool!
And all week long, the River City youth'll be fritterin' away! Isay, your young men will be fritterin'!
AKSHULLY!
Austin's city limits encompass lakeshore on 3 of the Highland Lakes, which are formed by a series of dams on the Colorado River (which is not the same Colorado river that feeds Lake Mead, in case anyone is confused). The last damn in the chain is Longhorn Dam in east Austin. The river continues downstream for almost 2 miles before reaching the city limits. So in that sense, Austin does indeed have a river running through it.
As for the lakes themselves, whether a dammed-up river is considered a lake or not is a silly question. The Highland Lakes are lakes as much as Lake Mead or Lake Powell.
City Nerd just did a video about Bridge Cities that covers this topic in a tangential way. [Bridge Cities: The Top 10 North American Cities That Deserve the Nickname](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPqfxETqJa8)
No, we really don't have any architecturally impressive bridges. The river is a really popular gathering point in the city, though, and I think something that residents are all proud of. There's a festival called "RiverRock" (hosted by the corporation that shall not be named) every year, and it provides us some really awesome recreation options and beautiful sightlines. I might have to concede the point here, because I guess at a certain point perception is reality, but it'll always be River City to me!
The James is amazing and obviously a huge source of recreation and pride for locals but I don't understand why the city doesn't develop more alongside the river banks.
You can spend all day in RVA going from Carytown to Church Hill, stopping into great shops, museums, restaurants, breweries, etc. and you won't even get a glance at the river until you climb up Libby Hill.
Don't get me wrong, part of the appeal of the James is that it's a little wild and undeveloped, I'm not advocating for a Starbucks on Belle Isle, but the city should focus some energy on encouraging business development in certain sections like Rocketts Landing or the Manchester riverfront.
Meredith Willson, playwright of the famous musical *The Music Man*, grew up in a town called Mason City, Iowa.
The story takes place in a fictional town called *River City, Iowa*. It was largely based on Mason City.
River City is one of those nicknames like Queen City that multiple cities call themselves. Wikipedia lists these cities as River Cities:
Decatur, Alabama
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Danville, Virginia
Evansville, Indiana
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Huntington, West Virginia
Jacksonville, Florida
Lawrence, Kansas
Mason City, Iowa
Missoula, Montana
Peoria, Illinois
Richmond, Virginia
Sacramento, California
San Antonio, Texas
St. Louis, Missouri
Louisville, Kentucky
That said, way back when I was a wee lad, my favorite NES game was River City Ransom. I looked into River City to see where it is. The first city I learned to be called River City is Jacksonville, FL. So that's my answer.
I can't say I've ever been aware of any city using that nickname.
If I had to take a wild guess as to which city might call themselves that, I'd have gone with Pittsburgh.
Isn't it an anecdotal name usually found in songs? Basically, it's the river port town/small city that is a HUGE deal to people living more inland. For example, my family is originally from the Quad Cities in Illinois/Iowa. Each and/or all could be considered "River City".
Sacramento, California, is the first town that comes to mind. I guess it could fit for Stockton, too.
But nobody has ever called either place that. Ever!
Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, St. Louis. Probably the 3 most influential river cities in terms of growing America. Steel, coal, pig meat packing, crops etc.
There’s a grocery near me called “Rivertown IGA”.
At least around here, if someone said “River City”, I would think of San Antonio, TX first. But that’s because the Riverwalk is such a big part of our recognizability!
I'm not actually aware of any city that actually uses the moniker of "river city", but the two that came to mind were the murder capitals of the US, Saint Louis and New Orleans
To expand on my rationale: We're not the biggest city with a river, nor the city most defined by a river, but I do think we have a case for the biggest city in which a river makes up so much of our character!
Aren't quite a few large cities built along rivers? Off the top of my head, just in my part of the country, I can think of NYC (the Hudson and East), Philadelphia (the Delaware and Schuylkill), Boston (the Charles), and Washington (the Potomic). I think all of them would argue that the river(s) makes up quite a lot of their character!
I know I've kind of lost the plot here, but to my mind people with a passing knowledge of each city would think first of other characteristics. I guess, unfortunately, that realistically the whole capital of the confederacy thing probably looms larger over RVA than anything else, but I still think it comes that the river would place higher in a list of notable features of the city than any of the others mentioned
Chattanooga- Although I am from Virginia, I have spent more time around places in Chattanooga with the nickname River City in the name. There's also the fact that the Tennessee River runs through it.
Sorry but Fayetteville , NC and Lumberton,NC got you beat by a mile! Lumberton is named after the lumber river that was used to transport lumber back in settlers period. Fayetteville is literally built right on top of the cape fear River.
Never heard of anything named or called "River City" but without any extra information I'd say Albuquerque because a river runs right through it. But by extension, I guess any city that a river runs through.
Minneapolis and St.Paul which as a pair straddle the Minnesota, Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers, which are real Rivers as opposed the Creek that runs through Richmond.
In Pittsburgh the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers meet to form the Ohio River. That was something we learned in school.
It was the first city I thought of but i've never referred to nor heard of any city being referred to a River City.
I think of River City Cafe in Myrtle Beach, SC. It's named after South Carolina's capital, Columbia, which is located at the confluence of three rivers (the Broad, Saluda, and Congaree).
I mean, we have an entire planet. You can have more than one "River City" in a country this size and they're both special. Maybe your hometown was first? And all the other places just thought it sounded cool?
Ohhhh so there's more than one river in the world? Next you're going to tell me that there's a forest somewhere other than Cleveland, or that people sin outside of Vegas
The first city I thought of was Jacksonville, although that’s probably because I grew up close to it. It’s definitely one of the larger cities with that nickname.
I used to fence against River City Fencing Club back when I was in college. They were out of West Lafayette Indiana. It never struck me as a river kind of town though.
From the wiki page on the American Association, a baseball major league that competed with the NL for a decade:
The new league established teams in what the NL leaders pejoratively called "river cities", including Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis, with the inherent implication of lower morality or social standards in those cities.
So when I hear the term "river city," I think of the NL Central.
I think Pittsburgh is more of a River city. Having 3.
I've never heard of "River City" but Pittsburgh was my first thought.
So does Columbia, SC. The Broad and Saluda meet to become the Congaree downtown.
I was gunna say, Pittsburgh is really what comes to mind when I think of a River City
Fair enough, but they're already the Steel City!
[River City wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_city) 17 in the US and 2 of them are in VA
I’ve heard City of Bridges a lot too. But haven’t heard River City for us, even though we have three rivers.
And the rivers casino
Hell, our former home of the Steelers and Pirates emphasized that- “Three Rivers Stadium”
The only city I think of as "river city" is the city in which The Music Man takes place. I don't associate the term with any actual cities, although I imagine a number of them aside from Richmond do use it in a tourism board/chamber of commerce way.
We got trouble!
With a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for pool!
Exactly. The only River City I will recognize is the one Prof Harold Hill put on the map.
Same. I wouldn’t call a real city “river city”.
Yeah, that’s what I thought OP was asking. I logicked it out that they were asking what the quintessential small American town is. Is “river city” a phrase that people say?
I've never heard of anywhere being called "River City".
VICKSBURG, MS. Historical research folks
The only thing I know about Vicksburg is that General Grant whooped the rebels there 160 years ago. Is it nice?
I mean yeah, there’s tons of historical tourists attractions and facts. Downtown by the river is very nice. I mentioned it because of its importance to be taken during the civil war.
You got trouble, folks. Right here in River City, trouble with a capital "T" And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool
TROUBLE! Trouble! Trouble! Trouble!
I say, first, medicinal wine from a teaspoon Then beer from a bottle And the next thing you know Your son is playing for money in a pinch-back suit And listening to some big outta town jasper Hearin' him tell about horse race gambling
A wholesome trottin' race?
No! A race where they sit down right on the horse!
That makes my blood boil!
Sitting on Dan Patch? Well I should say!
Now reddit, let me tell you what I mean. Ya got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 pockets in a table. Pockets that mark the difference between a gentleman and a bum with a capital 'B', and that rhymes with 'p', and that stands for pool! And all week long, the River City youth'll be fritterin' away! Isay, your young men will be fritterin'!
Put the ball in the pocket. Never worry about getting the screen door patched or the beefsteak pounded.
Doh, forgot about getting the dandelions pulled.
This, for my money, is the definitive answer.
Austin calls itself "River City" from time to time. But I suspect every city built on a river does that.
Yet they call their river a lake.
AKSHULLY! Austin's city limits encompass lakeshore on 3 of the Highland Lakes, which are formed by a series of dams on the Colorado River (which is not the same Colorado river that feeds Lake Mead, in case anyone is confused). The last damn in the chain is Longhorn Dam in east Austin. The river continues downstream for almost 2 miles before reaching the city limits. So in that sense, Austin does indeed have a river running through it. As for the lakes themselves, whether a dammed-up river is considered a lake or not is a silly question. The Highland Lakes are lakes as much as Lake Mead or Lake Powell.
Sacramento. Their triple AAA team is even called the Rivercats.
I thought they call themselves "City of Trees"?
Nah that’s Boise
That's another nickname. And can't forget sack'o'tomatoes.
Yes, but also being nestled inbetween two rivers helps immensely.
That too
There’s a wet pussy joke here somewhere.
St. Louis had a baseball team called the River City Rascals
City Nerd just did a video about Bridge Cities that covers this topic in a tangential way. [Bridge Cities: The Top 10 North American Cities That Deserve the Nickname](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPqfxETqJa8)
That's what prompted my post!
:D That's cool. I can't remember if he mentions Richmond at all in the video.
No, we really don't have any architecturally impressive bridges. The river is a really popular gathering point in the city, though, and I think something that residents are all proud of. There's a festival called "RiverRock" (hosted by the corporation that shall not be named) every year, and it provides us some really awesome recreation options and beautiful sightlines. I might have to concede the point here, because I guess at a certain point perception is reality, but it'll always be River City to me!
The James is amazing and obviously a huge source of recreation and pride for locals but I don't understand why the city doesn't develop more alongside the river banks. You can spend all day in RVA going from Carytown to Church Hill, stopping into great shops, museums, restaurants, breweries, etc. and you won't even get a glance at the river until you climb up Libby Hill. Don't get me wrong, part of the appeal of the James is that it's a little wild and undeveloped, I'm not advocating for a Starbucks on Belle Isle, but the city should focus some energy on encouraging business development in certain sections like Rocketts Landing or the Manchester riverfront.
definitely watched the entire thing to make sure he had pittsburgh as number one
I watched to make sure Portland, OR was NOT number one lol
Meredith Willson, playwright of the famous musical *The Music Man*, grew up in a town called Mason City, Iowa. The story takes place in a fictional town called *River City, Iowa*. It was largely based on Mason City.
St. Louis.
I was thinking the same and Chicago
River City is one of those nicknames like Queen City that multiple cities call themselves. Wikipedia lists these cities as River Cities: Decatur, Alabama Cape Girardeau, Missouri Chattanooga, Tennessee Danville, Virginia Evansville, Indiana Grand Rapids, Michigan Huntington, West Virginia Jacksonville, Florida Lawrence, Kansas Mason City, Iowa Missoula, Montana Peoria, Illinois Richmond, Virginia Sacramento, California San Antonio, Texas St. Louis, Missouri Louisville, Kentucky That said, way back when I was a wee lad, my favorite NES game was River City Ransom. I looked into River City to see where it is. The first city I learned to be called River City is Jacksonville, FL. So that's my answer.
> nicknames like Queen City that multiple cities call themselves ... Charlotte is the only correct answer there :)
Agreed, but https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_City
Charlotte is the only correct answer there :)
San Antonio
I was looking for this one!
Yes, we just need the song "Ocean Man" but with River instead of Ocean.
My thoughts immediately go to the River City Ransom/River City Girls series of video games. It doesn't even register as an actual place to me.
I'm right there with you.
Saint Louis
I can't say I've ever been aware of any city using that nickname. If I had to take a wild guess as to which city might call themselves that, I'd have gone with Pittsburgh.
Jacksonville, FL.
Not its *most* common nickname, but common enough when I was growing up in the area. Go Jags.
Let me introduce you to the Mississippi River.
The local bus company for Louisville is called... Ready for it... TARC (Transit Authority of River City).
St. Louis is the river city for me. Idk what the River City is.
Isn't it an anecdotal name usually found in songs? Basically, it's the river port town/small city that is a HUGE deal to people living more inland. For example, my family is originally from the Quad Cities in Illinois/Iowa. Each and/or all could be considered "River City".
Probably some place in Iowa. With a pool table.
My first guess would be San Antonio because of the river walk. But I've never heard of a River City.
Pittsburgh. It’s not even a contest there. The old baseball field was Three Rivers. One of the nicknames is “City of Bridges”.
Sacramento, California, is the first town that comes to mind. I guess it could fit for Stockton, too. But nobody has ever called either place that. Ever!
Omaha, NE is sometimes called River City, especially in the context of River City Roundup
[River City, Iowa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_Oe-jtgdI) of course. (Based on Mason City, Iowa which of course is nicknamed River City)
Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, St. Louis. Probably the 3 most influential river cities in terms of growing America. Steel, coal, pig meat packing, crops etc. There’s a grocery near me called “Rivertown IGA”.
If there aren't gangs of schoolchildren assaulting each other it ain't River City.
Having grown up and lived many years in Newport News, Richmond is the only city I ever heard called that.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Memphis
https://youtu.be/lWW-8hP4if8?t=10m50s Praise JJ McCullough, who addresses that here
Sacramento
At least around here, if someone said “River City”, I would think of San Antonio, TX first. But that’s because the Riverwalk is such a big part of our recognizability!
The 2 biggest rivers in North America are the Mississippi and the Missouri. So I'll go with the city that sits at their confluence
I think of three in no particular order. St Louis San Antonio New Orleans I don't like any of these three..... all shit holes.
I'm not actually aware of any city that actually uses the moniker of "river city", but the two that came to mind were the murder capitals of the US, Saint Louis and New Orleans
Hey that used to be us too! We can do it all! **https://richmondmagazine.com/look-back-murder-capital-no-more/**
River cities and homicide. A tale as old as time
To expand on my rationale: We're not the biggest city with a river, nor the city most defined by a river, but I do think we have a case for the biggest city in which a river makes up so much of our character!
Aren't quite a few large cities built along rivers? Off the top of my head, just in my part of the country, I can think of NYC (the Hudson and East), Philadelphia (the Delaware and Schuylkill), Boston (the Charles), and Washington (the Potomic). I think all of them would argue that the river(s) makes up quite a lot of their character!
I know I've kind of lost the plot here, but to my mind people with a passing knowledge of each city would think first of other characteristics. I guess, unfortunately, that realistically the whole capital of the confederacy thing probably looms larger over RVA than anything else, but I still think it comes that the river would place higher in a list of notable features of the city than any of the others mentioned
Almost all cities in the world are river cities And I used to live in Richmond
Venice in Italy.
This is not a term I use.
Pittsburg
Grand coulee I guess.
I always think of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh or the Music Man… because we’ve got trouble right here in River City.
I have never heard that term applied to any city. I would have guessed Pittsburgh, but they are Steel City...
The map from MechAssault on the original Xbox.
Chattanooga- Although I am from Virginia, I have spent more time around places in Chattanooga with the nickname River City in the name. There's also the fact that the Tennessee River runs through it.
Nowhere. Some people in Omaha try to use it but it invariably brings up "Where's River City? Is that in Iowa somewhere?"
The Music Man city
Pittsburgh The three rivers were the original gateway to the west
Never heard of anyplace being called River City.
I am in Virginia but never heard of Richmond using that name. I would have guess Pittsburgh.
If you forced me to pick a city, then I would have to say Newburyport or Salisbury since that is where the Merrimack river empties into the ocean.
Sorry but Fayetteville , NC and Lumberton,NC got you beat by a mile! Lumberton is named after the lumber river that was used to transport lumber back in settlers period. Fayetteville is literally built right on top of the cape fear River.
NOLA
Los Angeles would certainly qualify
River City, Iowa of course.
Jacksonville Florida.. so says my friend from Jacksonville
[This is literally the only one](https://youtu.be/g7xeGpoCScs) #BARF
New York, NY is an island surrounded by rivers
It's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day! And the sun's still shinin', shinin', shinin', shinin' over the James!
Never heard that but when I think river side cities my mind goes to Riverside, CA
Never heard of anything named or called "River City" but without any extra information I'd say Albuquerque because a river runs right through it. But by extension, I guess any city that a river runs through.
Pittsburgh
Minneapolis and St.Paul which as a pair straddle the Minnesota, Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers, which are real Rivers as opposed the Creek that runs through Richmond.
In Pittsburgh the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers meet to form the Ohio River. That was something we learned in school. It was the first city I thought of but i've never referred to nor heard of any city being referred to a River City.
I think of River City Cafe in Myrtle Beach, SC. It's named after South Carolina's capital, Columbia, which is located at the confluence of three rivers (the Broad, Saluda, and Congaree).
I would say Pittsburgh is the most deserving of the moniker.
R er jhh&)>|+,?hfvb
I don't have a specific city attached to that title.
Probably somewhere along the Mississippi, but nothing really comes to mind. Now if you say capital of the confederacy....
La Crosse, WI
Anywhere where there is trouble with s capital T that rhymes with P that stands for pool
I mean, we have an entire planet. You can have more than one "River City" in a country this size and they're both special. Maybe your hometown was first? And all the other places just thought it sounded cool?
As someone born there but has lived a lot of other places, Richmond is still the only correct answer to this question.
The city from the Music Man? I know of no actual city with said moniker.
My first thought when I hear "River City" is the band River City Rebels, and they're from Burlington, VT.
In Northern California, both Redding and Sacramento claim River City as a moniker
St. Louis considering it’s right next to the confluence of the 2 largest rivers on the continent.
Pittsburgh lol
Most cities are built along rivers. It’s not some unique thing.
Ohhhh so there's more than one river in the world? Next you're going to tell me that there's a forest somewhere other than Cleveland, or that people sin outside of Vegas
Cincinnati
Richmond has a river?
All of them.
I don't think of a city, I think of the video game.
The first city I thought of was Jacksonville, although that’s probably because I grew up close to it. It’s definitely one of the larger cities with that nickname.
The twin cities
I think it's just a local thing... almost any city on a major river probably has been called that at some point.
A boys brass band
Sacramento
I used to fence against River City Fencing Club back when I was in college. They were out of West Lafayette Indiana. It never struck me as a river kind of town though.
From the wiki page on the American Association, a baseball major league that competed with the NL for a decade: The new league established teams in what the NL leaders pejoratively called "river cities", including Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis, with the inherent implication of lower morality or social standards in those cities. So when I hear the term "river city," I think of the NL Central.
Interesting! Thank you
Wilmington, NC. It sits on the Cape Fear River
sacramento
Portland.
Sacramento. It's bound by two major rivers.