Cities that I've been in, maybe precisely because they aren't "actual cities", have high rises downtown, but mostly that area is too expensive for ordinary peop

Cities that I've been in, maybe precisely because they aren't "actual cities", have high rises downtown, but mostly that area is too expensive for ordinary people to live there. I don't understand why, given that the center of any area is necessarily relatively small, it shouldn't be reserved for commerce, because that is what requires everybody to come together. And it is!