River cities used to be important. And a bunch of cities in the USA that leveraged rivers for commerce are no longer so interesting to commerce itself.

That said who knows what the climate and wars will bring to any city in the US.

One of the reasons cited is the high level of short term projects but few investments in long term planning. The new Spurs arena comes immediately to mind.

Makes me think that a lot of cities that do this get stuck in a downward spiral. Funds are diverted from long term investments like infrastructure, education, public transit, etc. to short term projects like stadiums designed for immediate payoff but often don't pan out. When citizens don't reap the benefits they need urgent relief, so it's a hard sell to invest in something that won't pay off for 50 years. The next short term project is chosen and the cycle starts again.