# Show your city's uptowns



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

WANCH said:


> HK doesn't really have an uptown but here's how I look at it. If Central is downtown, Wanchai / Causeway Bay midtown, *North Point* is uptown


That's misleading. Wan Chai, Admiralty, and Central are the core districts. Causeway Bay and North Point are part of the central urban core. The concept of uptown doesn't exist in Hong Kong.


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## staff (Oct 23, 2004)

Stupidest thread ever posted in this section. What the **** is an uptown? What characteristics does an Uptown have, except for it being located north of the city core?

Who's going to start the highly anticipated "Show your city's blippbluppgosimos" thread?


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## nygirl (Jul 14, 2003)

^^ You know someone is gonna do that now.


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## Jaye101 (Feb 16, 2005)

staff said:


> Stupidest thread ever posted in this section. What the **** is an uptown? What characteristics does an Uptown have, except for it being located north of the city core?
> 
> Who's going to start the highly anticipated "Show your city's blippbluppgosimos" thread?


Not all city's downtown's are towards the south.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

hkskyline said:


> That's misleading. Wan Chai, Admiralty, and Central are the core districts. Causeway Bay and North Point are part of the central urban core. The concept of uptown doesn't exist in Hong Kong.


Yes they are the core districts. We all have our opinions on this but here's how I look at it. While these districts are part of the central urban core, Central and to some extent Admiralty is still HK's main CBD or city centre. I look at Wan Chai as "midtown" since it's out of Central but is still an important CBD. Anyway, it's just my opinion. 

HK Island is not like Manhattan where you can have down,mid or uptowns. HK Island is more west to east.

Each cities have their own concept of how they layout their areas. NY (Manhattan) would have downtown, midtown or uptown while London would have westend, eastend, etc.


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## Jaye101 (Feb 16, 2005)

Toronto's Uptown; North York City Centre


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Jaye101 said:


> Not all city's downtown's are towards the south.


With NY, the main city centre is actually midtown not downtown!


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

WANCH said:


> Yes they are the core districts. We all have our opinions on this but here's how I look at it. While these districts are part of the central urban core, Central and to some extent Admiralty is still HK's main CBD or city centre. I look at Wan Chai as "midtown" since it's out of Central but is still an important CBD. Anyway, it's just my opinion.
> 
> HK Island is not like Manhattan where you can have down,mid or uptowns. HK Island is more west to east.
> 
> Each cities have their own concept of how they layout their areas. NY (Manhattan) would have downtown, midtown or uptown while London would have westend, eastend, etc.


I don't think it's fruitful to apply certain district definitions to a strange setting. Intuitively it doesn't make sense. First of all, local Hong Kongers will not understand what an uptown is, let alone classify areas as such. As someone has alluded, what is a midtown? What is an uptown? 

Hong Kong is not a west to east city either. In fact, the city's layout has traditionally been classified on a *north to south* axis, with the harbour as the primary separation point, then Boundary Street in Kowloon marking the old colonial border. The focus of power has been south of the harbour, and development went north. It follows the historic colonization of Hong Kong and annexation of the New Territories.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

WANCH said:


> With NY, the main city centre is actually midtown not downtown!


While some may argue there is a lot more office space in Midtown, the core financial activity is still in downtown. AMEX and the NYSE are still in the old downtown, although trading houses may have relocated to Midtown. I guess the NYSE isn't moving to Jersey anymore.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

hkskyline said:


> I don't think it's fruitful to apply certain district definitions to a strange setting. Intuitively it doesn't make sense. First of all, local Hong Kongers will not understand what an uptown is, let alone classify areas as such. As someone has alluded, what is a midtown? What is an uptown?
> 
> Hong Kong is not a west to east city either. In fact, the city's layout has traditionally been classified on a *north to south* axis, with the harbour as the primary separation point, then Boundary Street in Kowloon marking the old colonial border. The focus of power has been south of the harbour, and development went north. It follows the historic colonization of Hong Kong and annexation of the New Territories.


Yes it can be confusing to local HKers except those who have been or have lived either in US or Canada.

Anyway, US cities came up with this with their concept of "downtown" with having the tallest skyscrapers and being the "centre of activity". Unfortunately, this *doesn't* apply to other cities especially those outside North America.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

WANCH said:


> Yes it can be confusing to local HKers except those who have been or have lived either in US or Canada.
> 
> Anyway, US cities came up with this with their concept of "downtown" with having the tallest skyscrapers and being the "centre of activity". Unfortunately, this *doesn't* apply to other cities especially those outside North America.


Then that's quite contradictory to what you present as a Hong Kong uptown, if you admit that the concept of 'downtown with the tallest skyscrapers and being the centre of activity doesn't apply to other cities especially those outside North America'.

Besides, those who live abroad know perfectly well that Hong Kong's urban planning style is very different from the West, and especially North America, hence they would be more prudent to apply a skeptical eye on the validity of these sorts of comparisons.

North American cities are seeing a gradual decentralization of their downtowns to suburban areas, where there is much more commercial real estate growth (not retail) than the 'traditional' downtown. I'm not in so much agreement that the old concept of downtown = centre of activity anymore. Even in New York, Metro North has more commuters heading out of New York daily than heading into the city.


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## Fallout (Sep 11, 2002)

LOL, there were already 5 users asking "what is uptown?" here, and noone bothers to answer them. Could you please say WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT HERE?????

What the hell is uptown???

Say what is uptown or


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## Jaye101 (Feb 16, 2005)

The third closes major business district away from Downtown, however still in the city. Hell--I can atleast try right?


Uptown; North York City Centre.




Midtown Toronto; Yonge and Eglinton




Downtown Toronto


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## EtherealMist (Jul 26, 2005)

Look said:


> LOL, there were already 5 users asking "what is uptown?" here, and noone bothers to answer them. Could you please say WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT HERE?????
> 
> What the hell is uptown???
> 
> Say what is uptown or


No one has really answered you because there isnt really a clear defenition which is why this is a pretty bad thread idea (no offense).

Like I said before it makes the most sense when looking at Manhattan because you have downtown in Lower Manhattan and then Midtown and then Uptown. Uptown is a part of the city but "uptown" is also a term you use when your heading up the island. Like you can also say "im heading uptown" if your going from downtown to midtown.

But many cities arent as linear and north-south defined like NYC so, as you can see, it gets hard to define the "Uptown" for other cities.


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## Yörch1 (Oct 31, 2006)

Would apply La Défense of Paris apply as an uptown?


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## harvesterofsorrows (Nov 5, 2005)

The only reason I know Chicago has an uptown is because the neighborhood itself is called uptown...

Maybe the guy who posted this thread thought every city had an uptown since a handfull of other cities have one.


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## Homer J. Simpson (Dec 2, 2003)

More of North York Center:


















































































Very sterile and boring but relatively impressive.


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

I'm still absolutely none the wiser as to what an 'uptown' is.

I understand the NYC concept as the historic city centre is at the southern tip of a long, thin island giving rise to an 'uptown' and a 'midtown' (as well as the 'downtown')... does this terminology all stem from Manhattan island?

Which streets are the boundaries on Manhattan? Is everything north of Central Park 'Uptown'? Does that make Harlem 'Uptown'? The Empire State is 'Midtown', right?

I'm confused!!!

Regardless, Manhattan is unique in its layout and the whole concept doesn't really apply to cities like London, Paris or Moscow which are inland and centred around a river.


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## mdiederi (Jun 15, 2006)

I looked it up in the dictionary, and they just say it's "the upper part of town", whatever that means.


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## EtherealMist (Jul 26, 2005)

^^

yeah I think Manhattan basically coined the term, and yes Harlem is uptown and the Empire state building is in midtown ( the southern end of midtown).

Not all cities have uptowns, indeed few have them, it all depends on the greography and layout of the city I guess. Boston for instance doesnt have anything that could be considered an Uptown.


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## KGB (Sep 12, 2002)

I would loosely define an "Uptown" as a secondary "Downtown", generally developed later than the "Downtown", and geographically far enough away to not be part of the "downtown". Usually developed as lower cost alternative to "Downtown". While "up" and "down" seem to signify "north" and "south", it does not necessarily mean they have to be aligned that way.

I would also say it's more of a North American phenomenom, due to the built-form nature of its cities (highly concentrated areas of commercial and residential high density, usually punctuated with highrises). European urban centres tend to have more spread out, older mixed-use areas, although "financial districts" may exist, creating what is generaly thought to be "Downtown" or the "CBD".

"Midtown" may be an alternative or addition to "Uptown" or "Downtown", but when all three are present, "Midtown" is located somewhere in between "Downtown" and "Uptown".

These may also change, depending on the changing nature of the city involved...in Toronto's case, "Downtown" used to be considered the area south of College St and "Uptown was the area north of College (to Bloor)....and there was no "Midtown". Now, everything north to Bloor is considered "Downtown", while everything between there and to north of Eglinton is considered "Midtown", with NYCC (from the 401 to Finch) generally considered "Uptown", but that is only lately, due to the recent nature of the area. 

Did that make any sense at all?






KGB


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## sebvill (Apr 13, 2005)

If an uptown is a financial and commercial district which is away from the city centre I would say Lima´s uptown will be "San Isidro", which is about 10km south of the city centre which is "Cercado".


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## mhays (Sep 12, 2002)

I suggest a totally different definition. 

An "uptown" is a dense, mixed-use district that mixes wealth, shopping, and entertainment. Generally it'll be one of the city's top locations for high-end condos, retail, and restaurants. It can also have offices, hotels, and arts. Residents are probably the biggest key. 

Examples include Manhattan's Upper East Side, Vancouver's West End, Chicago's Miracle Mile, and London's Knightsbridge. These are pretty varied in their amounts of retail and their levels of wealth, but they also have similarities.


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## monkeyronin (May 18, 2006)

mhays said:


> I suggest a totally different definition.
> 
> An "uptown" is a dense, mixed-use district that mixes wealth, shopping, and entertainment. Generally it'll be one of the city's top locations for high-end condos, retail, and restaurants. It can also have offices, hotels, and arts. Residents are probably the biggest key.
> 
> Examples include Manhattan's Upper East Side, Vancouver's West End, Chicago's Miracle Mile, and London's Knightsbridge. These are pretty varied in their amounts of retail and their levels of wealth, but they also have similarities.


Manhatten's Upper East Side is more part of Midtown I believe. and I don't see what wealth has to do with anything. I mean, Harlem is for sure a part of New York's Uptown, and its not exactally what I'd call rich. 

I'd say it has to do more with geographic location (away from the downtown to whatever direction), and the time it was built (after downtown).


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## sbarn (Mar 19, 2004)

Ugh... don't really know the point of this thread. I don't know many cities outside of New York (and apparently Chicago... however never heard of the neighborhood) that actually refer to an area of a city as 'Uptown'. It isn't really a definable term and isn't really a second business district.

Living in Manhattan, people will commonly use the term 'uptown' or 'downtown' to discribe the direction of subway lines; i.e. "take the Q uptown to 42nd" or something.










Uptown in New York is definitely not known for being wealthy... or a second business district for that matter. It is primarily residential with commercial corridors, unlike, say Midtown, which is primarily commercial office. This is a map of 'Uptown' or usually referred to as 'Upper Manhattan'.


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## Canadian Chocho (May 18, 2006)

sydney_lad said:


> "Uptown girl, shes been living in her uptown world, I bet she never had a back street guy, I bet her mama never told her why"


My god!! I feel sorry for you!!! I hope you got those lyrics off the internet and not out of your head!


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## yin_yang (May 29, 2006)

hey, billy joel is legit


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

EtherealMist said:


> ^^
> 
> yeah I think Manhattan basically coined the term, and yes Harlem is uptown and the Empire state building is in midtown ( the southern end of midtown).
> 
> Not all cities have uptowns, indeed few have them, it all depends on the greography and layout of the city I guess. Boston for instance doesnt have anything that could be considered an Uptown.


I think every city have their uptown but have different names of calling them. I look at uptown as the part of the city (particularly north) that is still a centre of activity but is beyond the downtown and close to the suburbs. Quite confusing isn't it?

La Defense can be considered as "uptown" but an average Parisian don't look at it that way. 

As for Manhattan, yes they coined the term since it's a long island. But if you look at it, NY's real uptowns are the Bronx and Yonkers.


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## jmancuso (Jan 9, 2003)

uptown galleria as seen from downtown facing west (jpmorgan chase tower)










as seen from parking garage facing east.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

WANCH said:


> I think every city have their uptown but have different names of calling them. I look at uptown as the part of the city (particularly north) that is still a centre of activity but is beyond the downtown and close to the suburbs. Quite confusing isn't it?
> 
> La Defense can be considered as "uptown" but an average Parisian don't look at it that way.
> 
> As for Manhattan, yes they coined the term since it's a long island. But if you look at it, NY's real uptowns are the Bronx and Yonkers.


Not all cities grow in a north-south axis with the main centre in the south and the rest of the development flowing north. The centre of activity may be decentralized, like many Chinese cities and a growing trend among North American cities. Hence, the notion of 'uptown' can only be interpreted in very few cities where such concepts have been incorporated in the city's development fabric.

La Defense is technically outside Paris, so it isn't an uptown at all. It's more a suburb in fact.


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## mdiederi (Jun 15, 2006)

Would the Las Vegas Strip be an "uptown"? Downtown is a couple miles away to the north. But here's where it gets confusing, the strip is about a thousand time bigger than downtown, but it isn't even in the city limits, it's in an unincorporated county township called Paradise (the city loses a ton of taxes because of that). It's officially classified as a "resort corridor", but has tons of shopping and is rapidly adding condos. There's another part of town in between the Strip and downtown which might qualify as a midtown, but we just call it the "naked city" because of all the vice.

Oh well, on this site of Vegas city areas they don't list an "uptown".
http://www.insiders.com/lasvegas/main-overviews3.htm

There are several other new developments springing up around the valley that are designed as mixed use town centers. Maybe those will be uptowns?


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## yin_yang (May 29, 2006)

...you know, some cities don't HAVE uptowns


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

How about Los Angeles, We have downtown LA, Century City can be considered as "midtown". Whats uptown? Santa Monica or Westwood?


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Here's *Calgary*'s Uptown - it's named so.


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## staff (Oct 23, 2004)

KGB said:


> I would loosely define an "Uptown" as a secondary "Downtown", generally developed later than the "Downtown", and geographically far enough away to not be part of the "downtown". Usually developed as lower cost alternative to "Downtown". While "up" and "down" seem to signify "north" and "south", it does not necessarily mean they have to be aligned that way.
> 
> I would also say it's more of a North American phenomenom, due to the built-form nature of its cities (highly concentrated areas of commercial and residential high density, usually punctuated with highrises). European urban centres tend to have more spread out, older mixed-use areas, although "financial districts" may exist, creating what is generaly thought to be "Downtown" or the "CBD".
> 
> ...


Not really.
Why not just call the "downtown" city core/city center and call the other secondary financial centers by their respective real names, instead of using completely illogical terms that only defines where the areas are located geographically?
The "downtown"/"uptown" thing is only applicable to cities that have their city core located south of the secondary and third commercial business districts - am I correct?

Stupidest thing I've ever heard. Why not just make a thread named "Where's your city's secondary business district located?"


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

staff said:


> Not really.
> Why not just call the "downtown" city core/city center and call the other secondary financial centers by their respective real names, instead of using completely illogical terms that only defines where the areas are located geographically?
> The "downtown"/"uptown" thing is only applicable to cities that have their city core located south of the secondary and third commercial business districts - am I correct?
> 
> Stupidest thing I've ever heard. Why not just make a thread named "Where's your city's secondary business district located?"


I had a similar thread years back which was "Show your city's midtown"


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## mhays (Sep 12, 2002)

monkeyronin said:


> Manhatten's Upper East Side is more part of Midtown I believe. and I don't see what wealth has to do with anything. I mean, Harlem is for sure a part of New York's Uptown, and its not exactally what I'd call rich.
> 
> I'd say it has to do more with geographic location (away from the downtown to whatever direction), and the time it was built (after downtown).


I'm not talking about New York, or Seattle for that matter. 

Different definitions exist. For some people it's more about being north of downtown. For others, the term refers to a central neighborhood that's more residential and more prosperous than Downtown. Or an adjective for any prosperous residential neighborhood. Some dictionaries say that. Other times, it's an adjective for anything that's trying to be classy.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

staff said:


> Not really.
> Why not just call the "downtown" city core/city center and call the other secondary financial centers by their respective real names, instead of using completely illogical terms that only defines where the areas are located geographically?
> The "downtown"/"uptown" thing is only applicable to cities that have their city core located south of the secondary and third commercial business districts - am I correct?
> 
> Stupidest thing I've ever heard. Why not just make a thread named "Where's your city's secondary business district located?"


Fully agree. Globalization hasn't harmonized district naming conventions yet, although English names have lingered on from previous generations.


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## Elsongs (Oct 18, 2006)

**** "Uptown" is a NY-centric term that refers specifically to the linear geograpy of Manhattan and rarely applies to most other cities.


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## Elsongs (Oct 18, 2006)

WANCH said:


> How about Los Angeles, We have downtown LA, Century City can be considered as "midtown". Whats uptown? Santa Monica or Westwood?


Mid-Wilshire/Miracle Mile/Hollywood would be the "Midtown" and 
Century City/Westwood would be the so-called "Uptown." 

But we just call it "The Westside."


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## sbarn (Mar 19, 2004)

mhays said:


> I'm not talking about New York, or Seattle for that matter.
> 
> Different definitions exist. For some people it's more about being north of downtown. For others, the term refers to a central neighborhood that's more residential and more prosperous than Downtown. Or an adjective for any prosperous residential neighborhood. Some dictionaries say that. Other times, it's an adjective for anything that's trying to be classy.


I just "googled" Uptown. This is what it came up with:


of or located in the upper part of a town; "uptown residential areas" 
a residential part of town away from the central commercial district 
toward or in the upper part of town

I don't know where you get the "prosperous" notion. In NYC, the Upper East Side is only sometimes consided part of Uptown, but so is Harlem, Spanish Harlem, Washington Heights, etc... not really prosperous parts of the city. I don't see the correlation between wealth and Uptown.




staff said:


> Not really.
> Why not just call the "downtown" city core/city center and call the other secondary financial centers by their respective real names, instead of using completely illogical terms that only defines where the areas are located geographically?
> The "downtown"/"uptown" thing is only applicable to cities that have their city core located south of the secondary and third commercial business districts - am I correct?
> 
> Stupidest thing I've ever heard. Why not just make a thread named "Where's your city's secondary business district located?"


I agree the title of the thread is poorly titled... in general, Uptown refers to a residential neighborhood. No need to be rough on the concept though...


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

Still confused... :crazy:

So its a residential, commercial, dense, rich, poor, classy, seedy, industrial area both close to and far away from the centre... That's 'up', right?

:rofl:


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## mhays (Sep 12, 2002)

sbarn said:


> I just "googled" Uptown. This is what it came up with:
> 
> 
> of or located in the upper part of a town; "uptown residential areas"
> ...


Why are you talking about New York? 

By "prosperous", I'm referring to the way the term is used in popular culture, or at least how it used to be used. Maybe it's my age (37) speaking, as I realize it's not a common word today. If you spend enough time in Google you come up with references to this.


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## Fallout (Sep 11, 2002)

EtherealMist said:


> No one has really answered you because there isnt really a clear defenition which is why this is a pretty bad thread idea (no offense).
> 
> Like I said before it makes the most sense when looking at Manhattan because you have downtown in Lower Manhattan and then Midtown and then Uptown. Uptown is a part of the city but "uptown" is also a term you use when your heading up the island. Like you can also say "im heading uptown" if your going from downtown to midtown.
> 
> But many cities arent as linear and north-south defined like NYC so, as you can see, it gets hard to define the "Uptown" for other cities.


Too late anyway. Kiki's blood is on your hands now


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## monkeyronin (May 18, 2006)

mhays said:


> I'm not talking about New York, or Seattle for that matter.


You used New York as an example...


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## EtherealMist (Jul 26, 2005)

staff said:


> Not really.
> Why not just call the "downtown" city core/city center and call the other secondary financial centers by their respective real names, instead of using completely illogical terms that only defines where the areas are located geographically?
> The "downtown"/"uptown" thing is only applicable to cities that have their city core located south of the secondary and third commercial business districts - am I correct?
> 
> Stupidest thing I've ever heard. Why not just make a thread named "Where's your city's secondary business district located?"



Yes your exactly right, this is a silly thread. Except Uptowns arent secondary business districts, like Upper Manhattan is more a residential district.

You and HKSkyline are right that Uptown's can only really be used for cities that a have specific layout.


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## thryve (Mar 5, 2005)

yin_yang said:


> no that's midtown, i'd say North York is the uptown for sure


D'oh! Silly me... hence the MintoMIDTOWN project's name LOL


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

^^^^As far as I know in today's Toronto, Yonge and Eglinton is Uptown.... It is definitely not North York. The "up" in uptown is a physical one.... you go "uphill"... it does not mean "richer", but often that is the way it works. Richer people lived a little higher up the hill. Historically, "uptown" was closer to downtown. Don't forget that the old Eaton's Uptown was at Yonge and College, and The Uptown Cinema was just below Bloor Street.


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## Oaronuviss (Dec 11, 2002)

Toronto probably has the best uptown out of any city on earth eh?
Holy crapola!!


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## KGB (Sep 12, 2002)

I think using Manhattan as an example is misleading. I don't see "uptown" as a district there at all. Manhattan is basically just a large "downtown" with many, many districts.

I find that Manhattanites use the term "uptown" and "downtown" as simply directions of travel...not "places". As in...I'm heading uptown or I'm heading downtown...simply a direction of travel depending on where you happen to be in Manhattan. If you are in the Upper West Side and are going to Chelsea or SOHO for instance, you might say you are heading "downtown", rather than mentioning the specific district you are going to.

There's no hard and fast rule...just something I've persoanlly noticed as a general habit.






KGB


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## miamicanes (Oct 31, 2002)

Weirdly, lots of my friends from London have taken a fancy to calling the Canary Wharf area "downtown". Even stranger, it seems to be homegrown, and NOT something picked up from American expats living there. When I asked a British friend why they call Canary Wharf "downtown", he shrugged and said, "that's where the skyscrapers are". I couldn't really disagree, because that's really the exact same mental definition most *Americans* have about what constitutes "downtown" (even if it differs from what professional city planners might perceive).

By *that* definition, you could argue that La Defense *is* "downtown Paris", and make a compelling case for categorizing Rosslyn, Virginia as "downtown Washington". In all three cases -- Canary Wharf, La Defense, and Rosslyn -- the area with the tallest skyscrapers is *not* necessarily the city's most important business district, or even _geographically near_ the de-facto/historical CBD. It just happens to be the most visibly obvious area by virtue of having the tallest buildings.

By contrast, trying to define "downtown" Sao Paolo by the "that's where the skyscrapers are" definition fails miserably, because they're everywhere. Ditto for Hong Kong. Miami is similarly problematic... there's still an obvious concentration of skyscrapers in one general area, but the line gets more and more blurred every day as tall buildings spread to the suburbs.


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

Hmm... I guess this comes close enough... it's a bit isolated, it's high income, it's north of the downtown and fits the "third commercial area" pretty well...

*Søndre Frihavn - Copenhagen*














































More pics of the area here: http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=341884&page=7


Crownprincess Mary used to live here when she came up from Australia, before her and the Crownprince married... she would be an "uptown girl" right?


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## bayviews (Mar 3, 2006)

Traditionally, the Uptown's of both Manhattan & Chicago's have been very notable exceptions to the notion that uptown means going up north=going up in neighborhoods. But central Harlem's certainly been gentrifying. Very tough to find a decent place up in Harlem without paying the better part of a fortune for it. Chicago's Uptown, a humble oasis of affordable housing amidst the gentrifying north side lakefront, is also heading upward in terms of real estate.


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## nygirl (Jul 14, 2003)

WANCH said:


> I had a similar thread years back which was "Show your city's midtown"


Lol years back? You've only been here a year and change. Anyway yeah I remember that one.


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## nygirl (Jul 14, 2003)

KGB said:


> I think using Manhattan as an example is misleading. I don't see "uptown" as a district there at all. Manhattan is basically just a large "downtown" with many, many districts.
> 
> I find that Manhattanites use the term "uptown" and "downtown" as simply directions of travel...not "places". As in...I'm heading uptown or I'm heading downtown...simply a direction of travel depending on where you happen to be in Manhattan. If you are in the Upper West Side and are going to Chelsea or SOHO for instance, you might say you are heading "downtown", rather than mentioning the specific district you are going to.
> 
> ...




agreed.


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## Texan#1 (Nov 20, 2002)

Uptown Dallas......

(taken by Naptown)


















(taken by NMBS1)


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

nygirl said:


> Lol years back? You've only been here a year and change. Anyway yeah I remember that one.


MY BAD I meant months back 

Anyway I was in Metro Manila last week and I look at *Quezon City* as "uptown"


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

bayviews said:


> Traditionally, the Uptown's of both Manhattan & Chicago's have been very notable exceptions to the notion that uptown means going up north=going up in neighborhoods. But central Harlem's certainly been gentrifying. Very tough to find a decent place up in Harlem without paying the better part of a fortune for it. Chicago's Uptown, a humble oasis of affordable housing amidst the gentrifying north side lakefront, is also heading upward in terms of real estate.



Well, I'm going to guess that the "up" in "uptown" does not mean "upscale". I believe in most traditional senses it means UP from the waterfront, as in elevation. Rich people just happened to not build by the water in case of floods. Why do you think the posh old area of New Orleans was not flooded? Is Chicago's traditional uptown area on the lakefront? 
Harlem was not always the same as what it is now. The Afro-American community in New York got shunted about a lot, and when the subway was built, it allowed many of them to move farther away, into Harlem. They slowly migrated to different areas, ending up in Harlem.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Taller said:


> Well, I'm going to guess that the "up" in "uptown" does not mean "upscale". I believe in most traditional senses it means UP from the waterfront, as in elevation. Rich people just happened to not build by the water in case of floods. Why do you think the posh old area of New Orleans was not flooded? Is Chicago's traditional uptown area on the lakefront?
> Harlem was not always the same as what it is now. The Afro-American community in New York got shunted about a lot, and when the subway was built, it allowed many of them to move farther away, into Harlem. They slowly migrated to different areas, ending up in Harlem.


Harlem is not just African American. The east part of Harlem (Spanish Harlem) is predominantly Puerto Rican.

As for "uptown", true it doesn't mean upscale and it doesn't have to be all residential as well.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

WANCH said:


> Harlem is not just African American. The east part of Harlem (Spanish Harlem) is predominantly Puerto Rican.
> 
> As for "uptown", true it doesn't mean upscale and it doesn't have to be all residential as well.


True. I was more referring to the traditional view of Harlem... it has been an evolving thing and will continue to evolve. I am still surprised, however, if Chicago's uptown is on the waterfront. That is unusual.


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