^
I really appreciate and love the "real" Downtown London and Paris. I'd take them in exchange in for our Financial District any day, but that might be because I'm used to it. I say this because the people I met in London and Paris loved their city, but the part of their cities that they loved the most were their new fancy financial places. When I was in cabs I admired their downtowns, the drivers would rant about how fantastic "and like New York" their new respective financial districts were. I, a North American, thought they were soulless petty things in view of their fantastic downtowns, but the locals thought their downtown was boring and their new districts were bold and exiting.
I guess your viewpoints depends on what you're used to.