It's common knowledge that most cities are formed on the coast. In the North East of the United States and the south east of Canada this is very present. Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo, Boston and many other cities are all on rivers or lakes but there's no large cites on one body of water. Lake Champlain. Why is this?
Cities don't magically form just because of being at the water's edge. They form where there's a particular defensive or transportation advantage. Considering Montréal, for instance, the city arises where cargoes sailing upriver have to be portaged around the Lachine Rapids, which also happens to be a place where there's a drop in the river, meaning water power for mills. Any place where cargoes must be transferred from one mode of transport to another is a good place to put mills and factories that add value to those cargoes.
As for Lake Champlain, Burlington, Port Henry, and Plattsburgh were modest ports in the 18th and early 19th century, but their tributary territories were not strong exporters of valuable raw materials, so the coming of the Erie Canal and later the railroads prompted greater growth in other, better-connected cities of the region, such as Montréal, Albany, Buffalo, and Toronto.