Downtown abounds with buildings designed by Fred Wesley Wentworth, some in collaboration with his draftsman and later partner Frederick J. Vreeland, who worked in the city from the turn of the century to the 1930s.

Downtown has a diverse ethnic makeup with large Dominican, Puerto Rican, Peruvian, and Mexican populations.

[7] The Paterson Downtown Commercial Historic District is a 41-acre (17 ha) historic district containing parts of Main, Market, Ellison, Van Houten, Broadway, West Broadway, Fair, Prospect, Cianci, Church, Colt, Washington and Hamilton streets in downtown Paterson.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 12, 1999 for its significance in architecture, commerce, and community planning and development.

As with many other older urban cores in the United States, it suffered as shoppers and retailers moved to the suburban shopping malls of the region.

In 1997, a special improvement district (SID) created by Merchants and Businesses of Downtown Paterson,[30] comprising over 300 stakeholders, updated storefronts and beautified city streets with signage and lighting.

The association participates in many city activities with sponsorships such as the Great Falls Festival and the annual 4th of July fireworks show, one of Northern New Jersey's largest.

New street furniture such as benches, garbage cans, newspaper kiosks, bus shelters, clocks, bike racks have been installed.

The area, which is responsible for the early growth of Paterson, has a rich history and has had a diverse and changing ethnic makeup.

New Jersey Route 19, known as the Paterson Peripheral, connects Interstate 80 and the Garden State Parkway to Downtown where it becomes Ward Street.