Municipalities without a downtown

[golden eagle]

There are several communities in the Jackson metro area that don't have a downtown. Madison, Byram and Flowood currently don't have one, but are in the works to develop one for their communities. Ridgeland also doesn't have a downtown and I've heard of no plans to develop one.

Maybe it's the purist in me, but I don't consider a city to be a real city unless it has a downtown. I've seen towns of less than 1,000 people have some sort of downtown area. I'm sure that many metro areas have suburbs that don't have a downtown either. What do you think?

[NE2]

Bay Lake, Florida.

[jdb1234]

Hoover, Alabama

[DTComposer]

Many of the "master-planned" communities in California lack a downtown, opting instead for clusters of "lifestyle centers" or similar types of developments. Several of these communities have well over 100,000 people, including Irvine and Santa Clarita.

Madison, Byram and Flowood currently don't have one, but are in the works to develop one for their communities.

I'm curious to hear examples of downtowns that were developed after the fact such as these, and their level of success in creating a true community center for their cities.

[huskeroadgeek]

You will find that most post-WW II suburbs do not have downtowns or central business districts. This is because cities like this developed primarily as residential cities, or bedroom communities. Older cities that have become suburbs or exurbs of larger cities will often have a downtown, but it is usually much smaller than you would expect for a city of that size.
Otherwise, just about every city or town regardless of size has some kind of downtown or central business district. Even in the tiniest of towns, even if there really aren't operating business anymore, you can tell where the business district used to be.

In regards to the planned communities mentioned above, another example of this is Columbia, MD. It is a collection of 10 villages each with its own village center and no traditional downtown.

[agentsteel53]

Many of the "master-planned" communities in California lack a downtown, opting instead for clusters of "lifestyle centers" or similar types of developments. Several of these communities have well over 100,000 people, including Irvine and Santa Clarita.

Irvine has to be the most terribly planned city I've ever been in.  It is next to impossible to find a gas station, or even a convenience store.  The one time I badly needed some water, I drove around horrific walled-in neighborhoods for a while before accidentally stumbling upon a Vons (a major supermarket). 

to this day, I know when I am driving I-5, not to attempt to run out of gas between Dana Point (where there's a gas station visible from the freeway) and the 42.

Orange County is, otherwise, a nightmare of large corporate buildings.

[Bryant5493]

Riverdale, Georgia didn't have a "real" downtown; they're developing one now in the Riverdale Town Center complex.

http://www.riverdaletowncenter.com/

Be well,

Bryant

[formulanone]

Bay Lake, Florida.

Bay Lake has about 20 residents and 200,000 guests; perhaps Downtown Disney qualifies.

Coral Springs, Florida has over 100,000 residents and no downtown, but it was founded in 1963 and master-planned since then. Any non-residential building over 35 years old has probably been torn down by now. 

[texaskdog]

If there weren't downtowns most cities wouldn't have traffic issues

[1995hoo]

Some people claim that Charlotte has an "uptown" rather than a "downtown."

[mtantillo]

Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Closest you get is the area near Virginia Beach Boulevard and Independence, where there are a couple of tall buildings.  The Oceanfront is definitely not a downtown district, its a touristy beach/ocean strip.  But since the Oceanfront is where most visitors are headed, it is generally what is referred to on mileage signs and guide signs.  Signed as "Oceanfront" and not "Downtown". 

[mtantillo]

Some people claim that Charlotte has an "uptown" rather than a "downtown."

Well, "Downtown NYC" is called Midtown.  Downtown Manhattan is a small cousin to Midtown's CBD.  Likewise, Philly has a "Center City", Chicago has a "Loop", etc.  But they are all effectively (non-proper noun) downtowns. 

Because "DOWNTOWN" on a road sign refers to a generic downtown and not a neighborhood called "Downtown", signs on I-277 in Charlotte refer to "Charlotte DOWNTOWN" to guide visitors to Uptown Charlotte. 

[xcellntbuy]

Coral Springs, Florida has over 100,000 residents and no downtown, but it was founded in 1963 and master-planned since then. Any non-residential building over 35 years old has probably been torn down by now.  

The commercial heart of Coral Springs, a downtown, if you will, stretches along North University Drive from West Atlantic Blvd. to West Sample Road, continuing west along Sample Road to Coral Springs Drive.

Fixed quote tag.

[yanksfan6129]

Some people claim that Charlotte has an "uptown" rather than a "downtown."

Well, "Downtown NYC" is called Midtown.  Downtown Manhattan is a small cousin to Midtown's CBD.  Likewise, Philly has a "Center City", Chicago has a "Loop", etc.  But they are all effectively (non-proper noun) downtowns. 

Because "DOWNTOWN" on a road sign refers to a generic downtown and not a neighborhood called "Downtown", signs on I-277 in Charlotte refer to "Charlotte DOWNTOWN" to guide visitors to Uptown Charlotte. 

I'm sorry, but downtown Manhattan is downtown...midtown is not downtown, even if midtown is the larger business district.

[NE2]

Bay Lake, Florida.

Bay Lake has about 20 residents and 200,000 guests; perhaps Downtown Disney qualifies.

Nope; that's in Lake Buena Vista, which I didn't mention.

[bassoon1986]

Bossier City, LA, but it's probably bc it's downplayed to Shreveport.

[1995hoo]

Some people claim that Charlotte has an "uptown" rather than a "downtown."

Well, "Downtown NYC" is called Midtown.  Downtown Manhattan is a small cousin to Midtown's CBD.  Likewise, Philly has a "Center City", Chicago has a "Loop", etc.  But they are all effectively (non-proper noun) downtowns. 

Because "DOWNTOWN" on a road sign refers to a generic downtown and not a neighborhood called "Downtown", signs on I-277 in Charlotte refer to "Charlotte DOWNTOWN" to guide visitors to Uptown Charlotte. 

I didn't think this thread was necessarily in the context of road signs, especially since this is the "Off-Topic" board. I certainly remember North Carolina's use of "DOWNTOWN" in all caps, though.

[SteveG1988]

Columbus NJ, town has a gas station near a fleamarket a mile outside of the main town. Nothing really in town except houses, a pub, one resturant, and a shoe repair place.

Emerado ND...across US2 from a USAF base, it had a Dominos, subway, and two gas stations along with a grain silo...15 mi to town

[Landshark]

The downtown for both Lacey and Tumwater, Washington is downtown Olympia.  Historic downtown Tumwater was wiped out when I-5 was built and Lacey never really had one.  The three cities should consolidate. 

Richland and Kennewick, two of the Tri-Cities in Washington really don't have downtowns either.  The center of activity is in between the two cities in the Columbia Center area.  Pasco has a downtown, but it has far less activity than the Columbia Center area.  If the Tri-Cities ever gets high rise buildings, I'd expect they would be built there.  Closing the minor airport being squeezed out by development will open up even more land in the area.

[corco]

Closing the minor airport being squeezed out by development will open up even more land in the area.

Yeah, I'm sure ConAgra/Lambweston is going to allow that to happen! Vista Field is crucial for flying executives in and out since it's right next door to the LW headquarters- they've got multiple Learjets going in and out every day (or at least they used to) to Boise, Omaha, and the factories

[tdindy88]

Some people claim that Charlotte has an "uptown" rather than a "downtown."

Well, "Downtown NYC" is called Midtown.  Downtown Manhattan is a small cousin to Midtown's CBD.  Likewise, Philly has a "Center City", Chicago has a "Loop", etc.  But they are all effectively (non-proper noun) downtowns.  

Because "DOWNTOWN" on a road sign refers to a generic downtown and not a neighborhood called "Downtown", signs on I-277 in Charlotte refer to "Charlotte DOWNTOWN" to guide visitors to Uptown Charlotte.  

I'm sorry, but downtown Manhattan is downtown...midtown is not downtown, even if midtown is the larger business district.

Not only that...but Downtown Manhattan is "the" downtown, the original. It is the reason that all other CBDs in the United States are even called Downtown.

[yanksfan6129]

Some people claim that Charlotte has an "uptown" rather than a "downtown."

Well, "Downtown NYC" is called Midtown.  Downtown Manhattan is a small cousin to Midtown's CBD.  Likewise, Philly has a "Center City", Chicago has a "Loop", etc.  But they are all effectively (non-proper noun) downtowns. 

Because "DOWNTOWN" on a road sign refers to a generic downtown and not a neighborhood called "Downtown", signs on I-277 in Charlotte refer to "Charlotte DOWNTOWN" to guide visitors to Uptown Charlotte. 

I'm sorry, but downtown Manhattan is downtown...midtown is not downtown, even if midtown is the larger business district.

Not only that...but Downtown Manhattan is "the" downtown, the original. It is the reason that all other CBDs in the United States are even called Downtown.

True that...Downtown Manhattan is where New York was founded, hell it was one of the first colonized places in all of the western hemisphere. Look, you can't say that just because an area has more workers, that it is automatically the downtown of a city. It is a/the central business district, no doubt, but lower Manhattan is downtown New York.

[florida]

Deltona, FL. One big neighborhood.

[DeaconG]

Deltona, FL. One big neighborhood.

Add Palm Bay to that mix.  Nice General Development Corp sprawl, it is!

[english si]

True that...Downtown Manhattan is where New York was founded, hell it was one of the first colonized places in all of the western hemisphere.

Ahem, Verulamium beats it by about 1500 years - colonised by the Romans! Not that it wins - the Celts were colonists before then and the Romans reached modern-day France, Spain and Morroco before hand.

If you take 'western hemisphere' to mean the Americas, rather than anything west of Greenwich (as those to the west of Atlantic tend to do), then you also have Greenland (and from there Labrador) in about 1000AD. If you mean the USA, then yes, you are pretty much right.

Isn't downtown Manhattan the origin of the term 'downtown'?