Downtown refers to the central business district of a city, where you'll typically find the tallest buildings, major offices, shops, and public institutions clustered together. When someone says they're going downtown, they usually mean they're heading to this busy, built-up heart of the city.

In many American cities, downtown developed as the original commercial center, where banks, department stores, government buildings, and corporate headquarters were located. You can often recognize downtown by its skyline of office towers and its grid of busy streets. In New York City, downtown Manhattan includes Wall Street and the financial district. In smaller cities, downtown might be just a few blocks of historic Main Street buildings.

The word works as a noun, an adjective, and an adverb. You might take the bus downtown to watch a baseball game, visit a museum, or meet friends for lunch. Your parent might work in a downtown office building. Downtown areas often feel different from residential neighborhoods: more crowded, faster-paced, with more strangers and activity.

Some cities have seen their downtowns decline as businesses moved to the suburbs, while others have thriving downtown districts full of restaurants, theaters, and apartment buildings. The opposite of downtown is sometimes uptown or the suburbs (communities outside the city center).