We are now heading for the downtown Saint Petersburg ...

[milan2003_07]

I know about the use of the word "downtown" when speaking about the central part of a big city where the business center is concentrated. For example, we can say "the downtown New York" or "the downtown of New York". Is it possible to use the word "downtown" and expressions with it when speaking about the centre of some other big city like Paris, Madrid, Rome, London, Moscow, etc.?

I live in St. Petersburg and when I was working as a tour guide, I would often use "downtown" in my speech when referring to the central part of St. Petersburg, and the tourists who were with me would understand it. E.g.:

1. "We are now heading for the downtown Saint Petersburg where I'll show you lots of beautiful sights".
2. "The downtown St. Petersburg is always congested with traffic during rush hour at about 9AM or 6PM".
3. "I was very much impressed by the downtown of Paris as I had never been to that city before".
4. "The downtown of Bogota (Colombia) has several skyscrapers and it is the place where the business life is concentrated".

Please, confirm the correct usage of "downtown" is the sentences above or indicate mistakes, if any.

 

[Tarheel]

We say "downtown", not "the downtown".

We are headed for downtown St Petersburg.
Downtown St Petersburg is always congested with traffic at rush hour, which is 6 to 10:00 a.m. and 6:10 p.m.
I was very much impressed by downtown Paris as I had never been to that city before.
Downtown Bogota (Columbia) has several skyscrapers and is the place where business life is concentrated

 

[tedmc]

I would prefer "business activities" to "business life".

 

[milan2003_07]

I remember one of the discussions regarding "downtown + city name" and "downtown + of + city name" and as far as I remember some native speakers told me that both options are possible (maybe it has to do with the differences between AE and BE). In other words, do you find both of the following sentences acceptable or only the one without "of"?

"We are headed for downtown St Petersburg".
"We are headed for downtown of St Petersburg".

 

[jutfrank]

No, the second is wrong.

We don't use this word at all in Britain to talk about British cities, by the way.

 

[milan2003_07]

No, the second is wrong.

We don't use this word at all in Britain to talk about British cities, by the way.

I see. Actually, the other day I had a little dispute with one of my students when I was teaching him and two more guys how to speak about central parts of a city. They asked me if the expression with "downtown" was used only for American cities or some other places as well like cities in Europe or Asia. Your response makes it clear that we don't use "downtown" with British cities like London, Liverpool, Manchester, etc.

What about other cities (metropolises) in the world other than those in America? E.g., Tokyo, Beijing, Sydney, Paris, Madrid, etc.

 

[jutfrank]

This use of 'downtown' is commonly used by American speakers but it isn't commonly used by British speakers. That means that it's also likely to be used by American speakers to talk about non-American cities but it isn't likely to be used by British speakers to do so. If a Brit were in the US, he might well use it accordingly, but if he were in St. Petersburg, he likely wouldn't.

 

[milan2003_07]

We say "downtown", not "the downtown".

We are headed for downtown St Petersburg.
Downtown St Petersburg is always congested with traffic at rush hour, which is 6 to 10:00 a.m. and 6:10 p.m.
I was very much impressed by downtown Paris as I had never been to that city before.
Downtown Bogota (Columbia) has several skyscrapers and is the place where business life is concentrated

OK. What about the use of 'downtown' without naming the city? I think we use 'the' in this case, don't we?

E.g.:
1. When living in New York City I would visit the downtown very often in order to enjoy the atmosphere of business-oriented people and admire the beauty of the city's architecture.

2. My office is located in the downtown, but I'm currently living with my family in a suburb of Washington DC.

3. Whenever you go to the downtown, remember to take your camera with you as there are many beautiful sights to memorize (said by a resident of a big city).

 

[SoothingDave]

Just "downtown." Not "the downtown."

The only possible use is the unnatural phrase "the downtown of xxx."

 

[jutfrank]

1. When living in New York City I would visit the downtown very often in order to enjoy the atmosphere of business-oriented people and admire the beauty of the city's architecture.

2. My office is located in the downtown, but I'm currently living with my family in a suburb of Washington DC.

3. Whenever you go to the downtown, remember to take your camera with you as there are many beautiful sights to memorize (said by a resident of a big city).

All of these bold phrases are wrong. You're trying to use it as a noun, which is incorrect.

1. go downtown or possibly visit the downtown area
2. downtown
3. downtown

 

[milan2003_07]

This use of 'downtown' is commonly used by American speakers but it isn't commonly used by British speakers. That means that it's also likely to be used by American speakers to talk about non-American cities but it isn't likely to be used by British speakers to do so. If a Brit were in the US, he might well use it accordingly, but if he were in St. Petersburg, he likely wouldn't.

Dear jutfrank!
I've been thinking about your very detailed explanation since yesterday when I read it and this is a very clear explanation indeed!
I don't remember it very distinctly, but it seems to me I was taught to use "downtown" when speaking about American cities. However, the extension of this word to other big cities and town appears quite reasonable, though.
By the way, it was New York City which I first heard together with "downtown".

 

[milan2003_07]

We say "downtown", not "the downtown".

We are headed for downtown St Petersburg.
Downtown St Petersburg is always congested with traffic at rush hour, which is 6 to 10:00 a.m. and 6:10 p.m.
I was very much impressed by downtown Paris as I had never been to that city before.
Downtown Bogota (Columbia) has several skyscrapers and is the place where business life is concentrated

As a person very interested in the language, I consulted the dictionary and found that it's also possible to say "We are heading for downtown St. Petersburg". It's BE. In AE it's more common to say "We're headed for downtown Saint Petersburg".
I frequently used that phrase when communicating with my tourists and mentioning that our bus (coach) was heading for the centre of our city from the port. At that time (moment) we were on the way there.

 

[milan2003_07]

In my Collins Cobuild dictionary I've just found that "downtown" can also be a noun. They offer the following example sentence: "... in a large vacant area of the downtown".

What do You think about it?

 

[Tarheel]

@milan2003_07 I didn't know I had changed the word.

They are putting up some office buildings downtown.

Or:

They are putting up some office buildings in the downtown area.

 

[emsr2d2]

In my Collins Cobuild dictionary I've just found that "downtown" can also be a noun. They offer the following example sentence: "... in a large vacant area of the downtown".

What do you think? about it?

I find that sentence very unnatural. AmE speakers might be happier with it, since they use "downtown" far more often than Brits.
I would expect the sentence to read "... in a large vacant area of the downtown area" (I don't like the repetition but something is needed after "downtown") or "... in a large vacant downtown area".