midtown

[sagehen]

Beverly Olson Flanigan writes:
>I too am surprised
>at the blue/white collar distinction.  In my small town in Minnesota, we
>only used "uptown" (and we had NO hills).  I wonder if rather it is a small
>town/big city distinction?

Lincoln's population at that time was about 70,000,  so not really either
one. There  are many factors that might influence this usage, among which
are the mobility of various sections of the population and the changing
nature of town/city centers.
I wonder whether people adapt to local usage as they move about or continue
to use their original words.  In my own case I've always said "downtown"
whether living in Seattle, Portland, Berkeley, Sta. Barbara, Chicago North
Shore, or Yellow Springs OH.  But I think in all those places that was also
the local custom.
A. Murie