That's a part of Dubai - designed to bring in the money - but take a trip around Karama, Bur Dubai, or even Jumeirah and tell me that's the case.
Tbh the old town is nothing impressive either, plus i don't think you meet locals there
What is meaningful about this?
Plenty of people live in Karama and Bur Dubai (i.e. not in Sharjah), for example, who are not especially rich - those parts of Dubai are in fact the oldest and most populous parts of Dubai! Visit those places - don't just go to the usual tourist traps of the Palm, the Marina, and Downtown!
my guess is , if there s going to be something culturally interesting arising near dubai, it will arise in sharjah where immigrants live