Downtown
I live just south and a bit east of Sydney’s central business district, but when I head for the harbour or the Opera House, I’m going “downtown.” That isn’t the way locals speak, but after so long in NYC, my sense of any city is predicated on direction. It’s all turned around, though, because “downtown” Sydney would be “uptown” if I oriented myself according to the cardinal points of the compass, which was certainly part of my thinking back in the States. I’m sure this is an idiosyncrasy; other cities’ residents probably orient themselves according to whatever physical features form directional landmarks. Because NYC, above 14th Street, anyway, is set out on a grid, north-south-east-west are relevant (essentially: the geophysical orientation isn’t precise). Still, north as “up” and south as “down” is a Eurocentric point of view, one that’s become commonly shared. Not by all, it appears, and I’d like to get one of these “upside down maps” (Metafilter, being fun and useful again) and reorient my mind.
Postscript: so-called upside down maps are available from the Map Centre in Parramatta by email. There are three: one small laminated version, and two paper wall maps, one with Steve Irwin but also a relief version on the reverse.