Which cities have the best downtown districts?

In my opinion, most cities' downtown districts are largely undesirable. They are either largely business-oriented and offer little to residents who live in that city, or they are ghost towns past 5 or 6:00 PM.

Or, alternatively, if they are downtown districts that offer tourist attractions - i.e., your more major cities, they are relatively undesirable to most local residents as they are filled with tourist traps, kitschy, and cliche.

That said, which cities, big and small, have the best and most interesting downtown districts?