Poorer people would obviously live where the land was cheaper, which might not have been on or near a river, because that land had a lot of commercial potential. Over the Rhine in Cincinnati was an elite residential area when built because it was north of the canal, and in the flood plain. The canal was drained to build a subway which famously was never completed, the tunnels largely remain filled with pipes and cables. The old canal was nicknamed the "Rhine" and the prosperous folks north of it were mostly German. The street over the subway was originally Kaiser Wilhelm Strasse, or Willy Street, until for some reason it was changed in 1915.
Just back from a walk, the weather is about as perfect as it can be for being outside.