Date:  Mon, 2 Oct 1995 09:38:15 -0600

From:  Bruce Gelder <bgelder[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CAMEL.SIM.ES.COM>

Subject: Re: inner city



> When did "downtown" become "inner-city"?

> As a child, I used to go downtown to the heart of Los Angeles. Now

> it the inner-city.



I'm not convinced that they're the same semantically, although there's

usually plenty of overlap in the realizations of the words, especially

when they are used to describe areas of megalopolises such as the

sprawling LA areas.



To me, "downtown" simply suggests a centrally located business district.

"Inner city" connotes several negative things about the area, such as

poverty, high crime, and so forth. Since downtown areas are where inner

city area tend to form, I'd be willing to bet that that's why the words

overlap in function.



-Bruce