Many cities have a town square in the middle of town, which is an area downtown with a whole bunch of stores, usually surrounding the county courthouse or another municipal building. While some town squares are rapidly dying areas littered with empty storefronts and tiny 5-and-dimes, others remain vibrant commercial centers, with all the most successful local businesses and lots of local pride.
The best town squares I know of are in Denton, Texas (beautiful old courthouse, best used bookstore in the state, and great restaurants) and Lipscomb, Texas (tiny, tiny town and rural as hell, but gorgeous historical courthouse and nice rustic scenery).