Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
If you live in a city, or are familiar with one, how well does that description conform to your experi-
ence? The sections that follow consider urban parts and processes in greater detail.
The Central Business District (CBD)
At or near the center of most cities is what students of urban geography call the
Central Busi-
ness District
(
CBD
) and what normal, well-adjusted people call “downtown.” This is the core
of the city and in most instances is characterized by:
The area where the city began
The focal point of the main transportation arteries
The tallest buildings
City hall, court buildings, and government offices
Major commercial, retail and office buildings
In some respects “downtown” is preferable to “CBD” because the former infers that much more is
going on in the area than just business. Still, the concentration of business enterprises is such that
commercial land use dominates the CBD and gives rise (quite literally) to its most outstanding char-
acteristic: large and imposing structures, usually including the tallest buildings in town. Com-petitive
biddingforreal estate iswhatleads tothosestructures, andboththebiddingandthebuildings deserve
at least modest description.
Competitive bidding and the rent gradient
Historically, downtown was
the
place to be as far as commercial enterprises were concerned.
That is because it was the focal point of the transportation network and therefore readily ac-
cessible to a high percentage of the city's population, all of whom were potential customers or
employees. As a result, demand for downtown business locations quickly exceeded the supply
of real estate. When demand exceeds supply, whether you're talking real estate or rock con-
