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The OP's title is incorrect. Technically, Manhattan is not downtown it's a borough. I know what I'm talking about. You're the one who's absolutely clueless. You need a GPS because your geography is lacking here.
Why do you have a name such as "urbanologist" when you have no idea what you're talking about?
The local word for the city core is to call it the "city". Someone in Queens might say "I'm going into the city for evening". The "city" includes most of Manhattan, none of the outer boroughs.
One minor correction. I am not sure about the other NY suburbs, but on Long Island all Five Boroughs are sometimes called "the City".
I learned this when I was little kid living in Queens but most of my cousins lived out in Suffolk. One of my cousins said one day that I lived in "the city" and I said "no - I live in Queens"! So he says "well Queens is part of New York City you dope".
So strongly at the time did I think of Manhattan as "the city", I did not understand that Queens was connected to it anyway. Imagine my confusion when my cousin started telling me that not only was Queens part of NYC but it is also part of Long Island!
The local word for the city core is to call it the "city". Someone in Queens might say "I'm going into the city for evening". The "city" includes most of Manhattan, none of the outer boroughs.
Not true.
This depends on who is saying this like I've said before. I know people in Suffolk County that calls the other boroughs the city as well. I believe in that context they are shortening New York City though. Just last night one of our family friends moved from Brooklyn to Long Island and she said "I love it over there I am never moving back into the city"
She grew up in Queens and Brooklyn. When people that lives in the boroughs say it, they are primarily talking about the trendy/nightlife areas of Manhattan.
Why can't a borough (or a part of a borough regardless of its technical name) also be the city's downtown? Wiki defines downtown as "a city's core (or center) or central business district". Do you think Midtown Manhattan does not fit that description in relation to NYC?
Midtown is the city's largest CBD but not the borough's "downtown". You wouldn't say all of Brooklyn is downtown why would you include all of Manhattan when it's a borough. The boroughs are boroughs.
No. If by downtown we mean central business district then it would be the area south of 59th st. If we mean city core or city center then I would say it would be south of 96th st on the East side and south of 125th on the West side. I guess an argument could be made that all of Manhattan should be viewed as the city "core" but for purposes of this discussion I think thats a stretch.
No, because NYC has more than one CBD. Now Midtown would be the largest in the city. Manhattan has more than one CBD, btw.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nei
The local word for the city core is to call it the "city". Someone in Queens might say "I'm going into the city for evening". The "city" includes most of Manhattan, none of the outer boroughs.
You are correct. That's the term I usually use when ever I head into Manhattan from New Jersey. When I take the NJtransit train to Penn Station I will say that I am going into "the city" but I would never say "downtown" if it's not the Lower Manhattan area. The locals should know this.
Last edited by urbanologist; 07-18-2013 at 01:24 PM..
Harlem is not downtown not because it is located Uptown. Those two terms are not mutually exclusive in New York. Uptown is a geographical term. In any other city it is a synonym for "North". If you are going to the Bronx you'd take an uptown train going to Uptown, or if you live in Harlem you'd go downtown if you want to go to Times Square.
going uptown = going North
going downtown = going South
Uptown = Upper Manhattan Island
Midtown = Middle Manhattan Island
Downtown (not to be confused with downtown) = Lower Manhattan Island
Midtown is the city's largest CBD but not the borough's "downtown". You wouldn't say all of Brooklyn is downtown why would you include all of Manhattan when it's a borough. The boroughs are boroughs.
Urbanologist, I think when people are saying that Midtown is part of New York's downtown they are using the word downtown strictly in the national sense. That is as the main or central business district. And they are using it strictly for the purposes of this thread.
They all know, or most of them do anyway, that in New York the word downtown is used for a more specific location.
Midtown is the city's largest CBD but not the borough's "downtown". You wouldn't say all of Brooklyn is downtown why would you include all of Manhattan when it's a borough. The boroughs are boroughs.
But we are not taking about the borough's downtown, we are talking about NYC's downtown. Dozens of pages have been spent trying to define what that is in the context of this thread and most people have agreed that "NYC downtown", for purposes of this thread, means either city center or central business district. Those are not identical concepts but in both cases its more than merely "Downtown Manhattan".
Why do you have a name such as "urbanologist" when you have no idea what you're talking about?
I chose the name because I have an interest in all things urban and have lived, worked and been in various urban environments in this country and outside. I only speak from real life experiences of being in urban environments not from just doing a Google search. I at least get away from my computer to see some of these places in person. I travel very frequently and have been to all 47 states out of the 50. Can you say the same?
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