A city is larger than a town. New York City, Boston, Miami, and Los Angeles are
examples of cities. All state or country capitals are cities; cities usually have some
significant political, economic or cultural importance. The word town refers to a
smaller population center. And a very small population center – even smaller than a
town – is called a village.
To complicate things, the central part of a city (especially the main commercial or
business area) is called downtown. If you live downtown, you live right in the
middle of the main action of the city – and it’s more expensive to live downtown than
to live in one of the other neighborhoods.