No. I do hear it locally to describe going ANYwhere. They all say "down" for whatever town they are heading. Just a local idiom that confuses the newcomers for sure! We're in northern PA and yet, they say going "down" to Corning which is north of here in NY. It isn't a topographical direction to them at all.

And, a little bit of local interest: newcomers are generally called "flatlanders" and the locals (but not within earshot :-) of them) are called "ridge-runners".

"Adversity is the whetstone of creativity"