This is a pet-peeve of mine.  I see it all the time in newspapers and what not...it is when they're referring to a place and call it "downtown Cincinnati."  WTF?!?!

 

Isn't Downtown a proper name for the neighborhood in which they are speaking of?  If so, then they should capitalize it.  I noticed this in the GoCincinnati report as well.  They said something along the lines of: streetcar should connect Uptown, downtown, and Over-the-Rhine.  I mean really...did you see what you just did.  If you're going to capitalize Uptown, then you should do the same with Downtown.  They are names of the neighborhoods (unless Central Business District is the official name, but even then).

 

Am I being silly on this...or does it tick anyone else off?  Or has anyone else even noticed it before?

I have the same issue when writing about the Cincinnati Streetcar.

generally I capitalize our streetcar, but not streetcars: ex.  the benefits that the Streetcar will bring to Downtown, but not the benefits that streetcars have for downtowns.

generally I capitalize our streetcar, but not streetcars: ex.  the benefits that the Streetcar will bring to Downtown, but not the benefits that streetcars have for downtowns.

 

Exactly my point...thanks.

Should the (S)treetcar really get proper name capitalization?

 

You could call the Enquirer and ask about their style guide. 

I usually leave downtown uncapitalized, but I find myself capitalizing the word "City".  I suppose I consider downtown more of an adjective when I use it in the context of Cincinnati.  "Downtown" capitalized makes me think of lower Manhattan (not that I've ever lived there, but that was the origin of the term "downtown").  I'll ashamedly admit that my tendency to capitalize the word "City" comes from the way in which that word is used with relation to the City of London, but I find the connotations of the historic core of a city and it's new industrial engorgements to be aesthetically pleasing, even if I'm the only one enjoying the implications.  I also enjoy the formality of it.  I never use the term "Uptown", which I find contrived, and instead use "university area", "Corryville", "Clifton Heights" or "Clifton", depending on where in particular I am talking about, though occasionally I will use "Clifton" for the entire area.

I'll ashamedly admit that my tendency to capitalize the word "City" comes from the way in which that word is used with relation to the City of London, but I find the connotations of the historic core of a city and it's new industrial engorgements to be aesthetically pleasing, even if I'm the only one enjoying the implications.  I also enjoy the formality of it.

 

I do that as well...

 

Should the (S)treetcar really get proper name capitalization?

 

I usually call it the Cincinnati Streetcar, but if I'm using it by itself I tend to go with streetcar...or Cincinnati Streetcar proposal.  That kind of thing.

I don't capitalize downtown by itself, but in examples like yours, I would. Downtown probably should always be capitalized unless it isn't specific to one; it is a proper noun just like any other neighborhood.

 

You aren't overreacting.

No, it should not be capitalized because in this instance, it is being used as a descriptor. Downtown is not necessarily a named area such as Clifton, Over the Rhine, Mount Adams, etc. but a a generalized description of the central core or central business district of cities.

 

Thomas, I definitely know that streetcar would not be capital in the way you are using it unkess it were the official name of the system such as the Cincinnati Streetcar Rail System, but you are using it as a descriptive statement which would not make it a proper name.

Agreed on the formality of "City." But City is short for the City of Cincinnati, which is as good a reason to use it as any. Also, it helps to clarify that you mean to say the government or administration, rather than some amorphous entity like the people or region.

Here is more on it...

 

http://www.metrokc.gov/exec/styleguide/d.htm#downtown

http://home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/d.htm#downtown

 

No, it should not be capitalized because in this instance, it is being used as a descriptor. Downtown is not necessarily a named area such as Clifton, Over the Rhine, Mount Adams, etc. but a a generalized description of the central core or central business district of cities.

 

I understand what you're saying, and I also understand people's thought process of it being a descriptor for an area....BUT Downtown is one of the City's 52 official neighborhoods.  So really when you're talking about Downtown it should be treated no differently from when you talk about Clifton, Hyde Park, etc.

I plead guilty to coining and repetitively using the term "Cincinnati Streetcar" for the past year. My feeling is, using a Proper Noun for the streetcar conveys more of a sense of reality than calling it something like "the streetcar proposal." If someone comes up with a better name, great, but our branding it as the Cincinnati Streetcar has been a good thing.

 

As for "downtown" or "Downtown", I think I live Downtown, but I also live in downtown Cincinnati.

 

I've never been able to figure out whether the Cincinnati Streetcar is a project of the "City of Cincinnati" or merely the "city of Cincinnati". But then, I'm from Indiana, where we never had to worry about these things.

I guess if they formally call the region downtown, then yes, it would be capitalized. But pretty much everything I read on the internet (with a few exceptions) says no to this.

 

This is just another one of those flaws with the English language since Northern Cincinnati would obviously be capitalized and downtown Cincinnati may or may not be capitalized depending on the circumstance.

I use, "Downtown".

 

Haha! 

How bout this...we can do eleet hacker-caps and it could be "DowNTowN CinCiNNatTI". That would end any controversy!

When I refer to a downtown in general, it is uncapitalised; if I am talking specifically about a downtown, such as Downtown Cincinnati, then I tend to capitalise it. If I am talking about streetcars in general, it is uncapitalised; if I am talking about the Cincinnati Streetcar -- in the sense that it is officially named the Cincinnati Streetcar by some official standard -- then it is capitalised. Trolley

Per the M.L.S. Handbook, "city" is capitalized when used as part of a formal name, City of Cincinnati, or when referring to a specific city/department such as:  There was a member of the City's planning commission at the meeting (with "City" being short for City of Cincinnati).

 

It is not capitalized when saying, " I drove from the country to the city yesterday".