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You see, that term "downtown" makes MORE sense than "The City". Think of it this way, ALL 5 boroughs make up ONE city, and the main CBD(Central Business District) of NYC is Manhattan. .
No. Midtown Manhattan and the financial district DOWNTOWN are huge cbd's but large parts of Manhattan are strictly residential or mixed. Also Manhattan has a downtown so if you'd call the entire island of Manhattan "downtown" what you would say when going to J&R: I am going to the downtown of dowtown? New Yorkers call Manhattan the city which reflects the old days when the boros were independent and much less urban than Manhattan i.e. the city.
^^^^^
Good check... I think it's better to compare county vs county rather than city vs county
This is a very intresting question.
I don't think they compare well though.
I'll have to disagree, because Brooklyn used to be its own city. And the entire county is tiny, uniformly populated, and just as urban as the city of chicago. The whole of cook county however is HUUUGE, and includes suburbs and other municipalities.
No. Midtown Manhattan and the financial district DOWNTOWN are huge cbd's but large parts of Manhattan are strictly residential or mixed. Also Manhattan has a downtown so if you'd call the entire island of Manhattan "downtown" what you would say when going to J&R: I am going to the downtown of dowtown? New Yorkers call Manhattan the city which reflects the old days when the boros were independent and much less urban than Manhattan i.e. the city.
With the bronx and uptown in general, the word downtown simply refers to both midtown and downtown. Your either heading uptown or downtown no matter where your at in manhattan anyway so i guess just calling it downtown stuck that way.
When going to a residential area like harlem you just say im heading to harlem,the heights etc
The bronx was apart of new york county before it became a borough and was an extension of manhattan. Thats reflected in its street number system today. Besides that was the 1800's when brooklyn was its own city. People just say the city because city=skyscrapers. Brooklynites say im heading uptown when refering to northern manhattan
You see, that term "downtown" makes MORE sense than "The City". Think of it this way, ALL 5 boroughs make up ONE city, and the main CBD(Central Business District) of NYC is Manhattan. The same way some who lives in say, Houston would say "I'm headed to downtown Houston" they're usually talking about the Houston's CBD which is downtown. The same should apply for NYC and Manhattan being the MAIN CBD of the 5 boroughs.
I fully agree that in theory this should be the case. SF transplants that come from many other places have a tendency to call downtown SF "the City," and its always annoyed me as well. If you're within SF's city limits you're in "the City," and if you're in downtown SF you're in downtown. I've had transplants two neighborhoods away from downtown talking about "going to the City" lol, and I'd be like, "you're already here, dumba$$!"
But in Manhattan's case, I can see why people would call it that. Its still a bit unorthodox to me, but I got used to it real quick. At least Manhattan is big enough to be a city in its own right. But I think calling it "downtown" would make more sense too.
No. Midtown Manhattan and the financial district DOWNTOWN are huge cbd's but large parts of Manhattan are strictly residential or mixed. Also Manhattan has a downtown so if you'd call the entire island of Manhattan "downtown" what you would say when going to J&R: I am going to the downtown of dowtown? New Yorkers call Manhattan the city which reflects the old days when the boros were independent and much less urban than Manhattan i.e. the city.
^^ yeah, but many people in the boroughs (especially Queens & Staten Island) call Manhattan the city.
that's just how it is..
even people from CT, LI and Jersey call Manhattan the city. when people say their going to the city, everyone assumes its Manhattan. otherwise, the person would specify what boro they're headed to like Brooklyn or Queens.
i've never heard someone tell me that they are going to "the city" when they are going to Staten Island. they would just tell me theyr'e heading into Staten Island.
Last edited by john_starks; 06-24-2010 at 07:53 AM..
When going to a residential area like harlem you just say im heading to harlem,the heights etc
People sometimes refer to Harlem as "Uptown." They refer to the Bronx as "Uptown" as well, so I guess it can be confusing, or you just consider both Harlem and the Bronx to be Uptown. In my mind, I consider Harlem to be Uptown and the Bronx as something different. The subway signs even say "Uptown and the Bronx."
When I think downtown NYC, I think Wall Street, WTC, Battery Park area. Even coming from Harlem, I would never think of the Empire State Building as being downtown. If I were headed somewhere around Times Square, I would tell people that I'm going to Midtown.
Then again, I do know a lot of New Yorkers who consider anything below the Park to be "Downtown." So even if they were going to Times Square, they'd say they're going "Downtown."
At the end of the day, though, I'm not sure it really matters. If I were in Chelsea or Harlem, I'd just tell people, "I'm in Chelsea," or "I'm up on 137th."
Last edited by BajanYankee; 06-24-2010 at 09:00 AM..
People sometimes refer to Harlem as "Uptown." They refer to the Bronx as "Uptown" as well, so I guess it can be confusing, or you just consider both Harlem and the Bronx to be Uptown. In my mind, I consider Harlem to be Uptown and the Bronx as something different. The subway signs even say "Uptown and the Bronx."
When I think downtown NYC, I think Wall Street, WTC, Battery Park area. Even coming from Harlem, I would never think of the Empire State Building as being downtown. If I were headed somewhere around Times Square, I would tell people that I'm going to Midtown.
Then again, I do know a lot of New Yorkers who consider anything below the Park to be "Downtown." So even if they were going to Times Square, they'd say they're going "Downtown."
At the end of the day, though, I'm not sure it really matters. If I were in Chelsea or Harlem, I'd just tell people, "I'm in Chelsea," or "I'm up on 137th."
Ya i say harlem as i'm coming from the bronx. With hip hop, the bronx and harlem had a strong connection and both were just called uptown I guess that stuck.
The whole downtown thing is really just a bronx thing. Downtown simply just means anything not considered uptown.
The whole "city" thing annoys me because it doesn't really make sense. The bronx is too urban for me to say that. When going to manhattan, im simply going to the downtown of my city
^^ yeah, but many people in the boroughs (especially Queens & Staten Island) call Manhattan the city.
that's just how it is..
even people from CT, LI and Jersey call Manhattan the city. when people say their going to the city, everyone assumes its Manhattan. otherwise, the person would specify what boro they're headed to like Brooklyn or Queens.
i've never heard someone tell me that they are going to "the city" when they are going to Staten Island. they would just tell me theyr'e heading into Staten Island.
I would agree, even in Philly many times when people say the "city", they are referring to Manahttan, and most definately true among NYers
^^ yeah, but many people in the boroughs (especially Queens & Staten Island) call Manhattan the city.
that's just how it is..
even people from CT, LI and Jersey call Manhattan the city. when people say their going to the city, everyone assumes its Manhattan. otherwise, the person would specify what boro they're headed to like Brooklyn or Queens.
i've never heard someone tell me that they are going to "the city" when they are going to Staten Island. they would just tell me theyr'e heading into Staten Island.
Bingo! You hit the nail on the head.
Its because of centuries old tradition that people still call Manhattan the city. Again remember for 250 years, New York City was confined to Manhattan Island and the rest of the Metropolitian area was mostly rural. Only in the 1870s did NYC expand off island into what is now The Bronx.
Approx. area population in the year 1840 when only Manhattan Island was New York City
New York County (Manhattan)-----312,710
Kings County (Brooklyn)------------47,613
Queens County--------------------14,480
Richmond County (Staten Island)---10,965
The Bronx (part of Westchester)-----5,346
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