A former Saint John mayor is pushing to have the long-held expression for the city's centre switched from the confusing "uptown" moniker to the more traditional term of "downtown."

Eric Teed, who served as Saint John's mayor from 1960 to 1964 and 1970 to 1974, said the name uptown confuses visitors and may even be hurting local tourism.

"My personal view is it shows we're strange," Teed said.

"If the whole world says we're doing this and Saint John says we'll do the opposite, you wonder why, what kind of a strange people are they there."

Teed said there's still room for an uptown in Saint John, so long as it's contained to the area above Germain Street. Anything below that point, he said, should be called downtown.

Uptown reflects city's history

Saint John boasts itself as Canada's oldest incorporated city, dating back to the merger between Parrtown and Carleton into Saint John in 1785.

Peter Asimakos, general manager of Uptown Saint John, said he disagrees with the former mayor's suggestion, insisting the name has a place in the city's history.

"It goes back to when people lived in the surrounding area of the uptown and said I'm going uptown to do my business. If the name is there for a reason, it's going to stick," Asimakos said.

Asimakos said a few years ago, his association polled area businesses on how they'd like to be branded and the name uptown was selected with close to unanimous support.

Asimakos said he appreciates Teed's feedback, but he can't ignore public opinion.