Uptown and Downtown - an explanation of what they mean

[Buckshot Bear]

What does Uptown and Downtown actually describe? 

[watab kid]

growing up it was the difference between going to areas that were upscale , higher cost or downscale lower cost establishments , 

in oklahoma city back when there was a high cost strip joint/think playboy club on steroids , with multiple stages and a lot of high rollers with oil money , was there once , thats why i know . with co-workers , once is the operative word here , in other parts of town , there were less costly and much more pleasant places to be 

 

my office at the time was in davenport iowa - the company office was across the river in moline illinos , i was on the sixth flood corner office lookingdown on the divifing line between uptown and downtown - there was a bar on the corner of the dividing line - there were shootings there regularly - north of there you were safe to walk the streets and visit the establishments - south of ther it was at your own risk , 

my parking area was south but well lit so never an issue , that corner bar got sjhot up three times in the three years i worked there , never set foot in it so i have no idea what it was all about , 

 

thats my experience - 

 

my folks , however had a different view of those terms , i was raised understanding their attitude that if you were poor and lived in the poor areas of town , when you went shopping you went uptown , 

if you were wealthy and lived in the well to do areas you went downtown to shop[ 

 

ill give you my view these days - i go by the latitude and if its north of you its up town , if its south of you its down town , im not sure what to say when its east or west but thats how i live these days ....im also in one of those communities that have boarder to boarder connection [actually four almost five] towns/cities  so the school districts there are a few if you include the privates , , the counties - there are three , lines change as you pass thru town 

 

once upon a time here we had upper - middle - lower st coud , i think back then it was divided more on ethnic lines but that did eventually dissolve , 

 

bootom line is in my family we went "down town" - it was south of our home and down hill from where we lived also downstream on the river so i never thought much of it till that top 40 hit DOWNTOWN made it a thing she made it sound like the lace to be , 

my cousins that lived in colorado lived south of denver - they went uptown , as did the farmers in my famly ...and i cant remember if they were north or south of town but it was a trip to town 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

My experience, downtown was the city’s business district: shops, restaurants, theaters, hotels, bars, city hall. There was no “ uptown “.

Edited September 17, 2025 by Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984

[Blackwater 53393]

The official unofficial definition of uptown as an adjective describes parts of town that are away from the “business district”. Residential areas.

 

As an adverb, it describes moving toward the business area of town.

 

As a noun, it’s the part or parts of town away from the business district.

 

Downtown is, or is about, the business district.

 

 

Edited September 17, 2025 by Blackwater 53393

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Growing up in a hilly, mountainous are there was no question where up town and down town were.  If you were down town you had to pedal hard to get uptown, but going home was a free ride.  If you were up town...well, you know.

Edited September 17, 2025 by Forty Rod SASS 3935

[Crusty Knees]

Depends on who you ask.  Generally, the dividing line is 110th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park.  But those who are well-heeled cite anything above 58th Street as dividing downtown with its stately brownstones and high-rise, gentrified apartments from "uptown".  Trump Tower is at 5th Avenue and 57th Street.

Edited September 17, 2025 by Crusty Knees

[Eyesa Horg]

Nowadays I just plain old go to town.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

7 hours ago, Crusty Knees said:

Depends on who you ask.  Generally, the dividing line is 110th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park.  But those who are well-heeled cite anything above 58th Street as dividing downtown with its stately brownstones and high-rise, gentrified apartments from "uptown".  Trump Tower is at 5th Avenue and 57th Street.

For those who might not know, this describes the island of Manhattan in New York City and is thought to be where the terms originate. There’s downtown, midtown (roughly 22nd - 59th St) and uptown. My office was on 42nd street in midtown. Downtown is south, uptown is north. 
 

The terms are also used for directions. For example, if you’re in lower Manhattan you might say, “I’m going uptown to a store on 12th street.”

 

Adding on, if you’re moving east/west, you’re going crosstown, as in taking the crosstown bus like the Simon & Garfunkel song. “You can take the crosstown bus, if it’s raining or it’s cold, and the animals will love it if you do….at the zoo.”

 

I lived out by Shea Stadium in Queens, so going into Manhattan was referred to as “going into the city.”

 

Now I live in the suburbs of Kansas City and “going downtown” means going to the business district etc (northeast of us) as Marshal describes. 
 

Edited September 17, 2025 by Abilene Slim SASS 81783

[Rye Miles #13621]

11 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

My experience, downtown was the city’s business district: shops, restaurants, theaters, hotels, bars, city hall. There was no “ uptown “.

This ^^^^^

[Rye Miles #13621]

 

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

What would really help is if some cities (New York in particular) would be kind enough to provide signs with arrows that say uptown and downtown.  Also, perhaps in their tourist guides to note that such and such site is "downtown" or "uptown".  

 

Was my first time in New York.  I had most of the day to spend there.  I was staying in Terrytown for work, but didnt need to be back until early evening.  I wanted to see the Statue of Liberty.  I was by myself.  So I took the train into Grand Central.  Then I knew I needed to get to Battery Park.  I had never been in a subway in my life.  I knew the train number I needed and found that, but the tracks were simply listed as "uptown and Downtown".  Luckily, I am not too shy in a strange place to ask questions.  There were some transit cops there and I had to ask "is Battery park uptown or downtown?"  They were very nice about it.  Long story short (I know, too late), I got to Battery Park.  The Statue of Liberty is no where nearly as close as it looks when you see it on TV.  And there are far fewer running gun battles between good guys and bad aliens on the subway than you see in the movies.

[El Chapo]

Chicago has one of each, downtown is where the big buildings, businesses, and tourists are, and "Uptown" is a little neighborhood north of Wrigley Field.

[Wild Eagle]

11 hours ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

The official unofficial definition of uptown as an adjective describes parts of town that are away from the “business district”. Residential areas.

 

As an adverb, it describes moving toward the business area of town.

 

As a noun, it’s the part or parts of town away from the business district.

 

Downtown is, or is about, the business district.

 

 

This has always been my understanding of the difference between uptown and downtown.

[Pat Riot]

As a kid in numerous towns if Main Street or the main business district was at a higher elevation it was considered “Up Town”. If st s lower elevation it was “Down Town”.

 

As an adult I have found many cities run by the same party for decades frowned on the term “Down Town” as it portrays a negative connotation and they encourage their brainwashed minions to use the term “Up Town” and to also remind others to use the term. 
Me being me, I continued to use my learned terminologies. Especially when I knew it was frowned upon, therefore all city business districts in certain cities became down town regardless of their elevation.

[Cypress Sun]

Biggest difference is.....Petula Clack never sang a song about Uptown.

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

Around here, "downtown" is simply toward the main center of the city, usually where all the shopping is.  

[John Kloehr]

Recognizing the term's origins in New York, glittering generality of much of the states is the prevailing wind is generally out of the north, so manufacturing and rail yards were generally on the south side (another term) of town. Downtown is the dense area with taller buildings and uptown is where the nicer homes (richer folk) lived. Poor folk and workers lived on the south side.

 

Just in general, YMMV.

[Buckshot Bear]

10 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Nowadays I just plain old go to town.

 

That's what we say Eyesa. 

[John Kloehr]

9 minutes ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

That's what we say Eyesa. 

 

Go to town for me means having a blast, knocking ourselves out, have at it. Just peeled a bunch of roasted Hatch Chilis, thinking to make some quesadillas and go to town! Not kidding, I even have real tortillas (no chems from processing), good salsa, a fresh container of sour cream, and some excellent cheeses from a store commonly known as Whole Paycheck (officially called Whole Foods). So I'll cook it all up and go to town.

[Eyesa Horg]

26 minutes ago, John Kloehr said:

 

Go to town for me means having a blast, knocking ourselves out, have at it. Just peeled a bunch of roasted Hatch Chilis, thinking to make some quesadillas and go to town! Not kidding, I even have real tortillas (no chems from processing), good salsa, a fresh container of sour cream, and some excellent cheeses from a store commonly known as Whole Paycheck (officially called Whole Foods). So I'll cook it all up and go to town.

That's a slang of sorts I'm familiar with. "You really went to town on that...."

[Rye Miles #13621]

Someone just asked me today if I wanted to go “downtown” to see a baseball game when they come back to town. Never used Uptown,

[Buckshot Bear]

22 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

That's a slang of sorts I'm familiar with. "You really went to town on that...."

 

We have another one - The town bike. 

[John Kloehr]

1 hour ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

We have another one - The town bike. 

I have no clear understanding of that, but here are the Hatch Chili Quesadillas I made:

 

[Wild Eagle]

Town bike would be a promiscuous lady. Ridden by everyone.

[Buckshot Bear]

24 minutes ago, Wild Eagle said:

Town bike would be a promiscuous lady. Ridden by everyone.

 

Bingo 

[Buckshot Bear]

31 minutes ago, John Kloehr said:

I have no clear understanding of that, but here are the Hatch Chili Quesadillas I made:

 

 

 

Yes please and thank you!

[Cypress Sun]

31 minutes ago, Wild Eagle said:

Town bike would be a promiscuous lady. Ridden by everyone.

 

I always heard it as the town pump.

[watab kid]

8 hours ago, Cypress Sun said:

Biggest difference is.....Petula Clack never sang a song about Uptown.

that was my recollection as well , so i went and go with what i grew up with and what she sang about - even if it was meant to be the underbelly of town it was the fun part of town i think , 

 

i always remember the wrong side of the tracks being the south side - only because that was sorta where it was but in reality in our town the north side or the river was the wrong place , the rough place in town - it was the adjacent town that had the river divide it east and west that was more in the news - the east side was less desirable [i had an uncle from there that was my favorite] and the west side was desirable [my uncle from there and i didnt get along well till he was dyeing] i had twin aunts that married outside our community , they were cheerleaders in our town that dated the next towns two competing schools in the area - you can imagine how that went over so we have always been considered a bit unconventional , they did stay married all of their lives to those two dating partners tho - better than i did , anyway our family was always crossing the uptown/downtown and wrong side of the tracks lines as imaginary as they are 

[watab kid]

Just now, watab kid said:

that was my recollection as well , so i went and go with what i grew up with and what she sang about - even if it was meant to be the underbelly of town it was the fun part of town i think , 

 

i always remember the wrong side of the tracks being the south side - only because that was sorta where it was but in reality in our town the north side or the river was the wrong place , the rough place in town - it was the adjacent town that had the river divide it east and west that was more in the news - the east side was less desirable [i had an uncle from there that was my favorite] and the west side was desirable [my uncle from there and i didnt get along well till he was dyeing] i had twin aunts that married outside our community , they were cheerleaders in our town that dated the next towns two competing schools in the area - you can imagine how that went over so we have always been considered a bit unconventional , they did stay married all of their lives to those two dating partners tho - better than i did , anyway our family was always crossing the uptown/downtown and wrong side of the tracks lines as imaginary as they are 

came back to add that those two are well over 80 today - live together as their husbands have passed and one is extreem left and the other extreem right n their thinking , makes an interesting visit for family that venture to arizona , ive not gone there yet