I think a lot of people do really want to see the heart of cities and places they visit to. By 'heart' I mean the real residents of the place and where they come from. Most of the time our impression about the place is just the famous landmarks and tourist spots and we get a little bored of just looking at them from the pictures.
Sooner or later people will tend to look for the real side of the city. It is something that kind of validates your visit to a city. One of the best ways I found was to connect with the locals. A single dinner at their house is worth a hundred at a five star hotel.