Working every day to enhance the vitality of Center City.

Center City District has helped transform downtown Philadelphia with a simple but ambitious mission to make the downtown clean, safe and attractive for people to work, live and enjoy.

Enjoy sunshine and socially distanced seating at CCD managed parks- Dilworth Park, Sister Cities Park and Cret Park. Fountains have returned on low water settings. Check back for more updates soon.

The Center City District Foundation is pleased to announce the successful launch of a new initiative, Plant Center City, which has the goal of planting 200 new trees in the central business district during the next two years.

On September 28, 2021, CPDC hosted an in-person panel discussion at the Union League about real estate industry trends, as highlighted in CPDC’s just released, annual Developments report (live link) The Union League required that everyone have proof of vaccination on hand and all attendees really appreciate the opportunity to catch at the first full, in-person CPDC meeting in 19 months.

Relative to a year ago, life is much better right now for many retailers and restaurants in Philadelphia’s Center City district, but the recent surge of transmission of the Delta variant is keeping a key ingredient of the demand recipe at bay: office users. Read more at Rebusiness Online.

This edition of the CCD and CPDC quarterly newsletter contains a picture gallery of the work of our staff keeping sidewalks clean and buildings graffiti free; stories about the remarkable things our CSRs do every day of the week to assist pedestrians downtown; and our work in partnership with Project Home to connect those living on the street with services and shelter.

As fall begins, Philadelphia has continued its slow, steady but uneven employment recovery. Jobs that can be performed remotely declined less during the pandemic and are rebounding faster. Those jobs that require face-to-face interaction with customers were affected most. So long as other workers remain remote, and so long as the Delta variant remains a challenge, making the unvaccinated and the rest of us vulnerable, recovery will be hampered.

This is a transformational moment for Philadelphia, when investments in economic development funded by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) can be combined with the long-recommended changes to Philadelphia's tax structure to prompt faster and more equitable citywide job growth.

Demand for Center City retail has been built upon a diversified base of office, education and health care workers, a large and growing downtown population and an expanding number of tourists and convention attendees. At the center of the region’s highway and transit system, Center City is the most concentrated employment node in the region, hosting 42% of Philadelphia’s jobs, creating opportunity for residents of all city neighborhoods and surrounding counties.

State of Center City 2021: Restoring, Returning, Reanimating, is a comprehensive overview of marketplace conditions in Philadelphia at the end of 2020. It provides detailed profiles of the diverse employment sectors that comprise the downtown economy, highlighting strengths and challenges as we entered 2021. It includes information on housing and transportation trends and serves as a report on CCD operations and their impact in the last year.

Greater Center City housing markets showed extraordinary resilience in the last year. While the pandemic impaired many parts of Philadelphia’s economy, the housing sector recovered quickly citywide, buoyed by historically low interest rates and continued interest in city living.

SEPTA is working day and night to keep their riders and staff safe and healthy, whether they’re taking Regional Rail downtown or making their way around town on our subways, buses or trolleys.

This CCD, CPDC report examines business density and the disparities between the number of Black-owned and white-owned businesses in Philadelphia and compares them to four other East Coast cities.

This CCD, CPDC report suggests that Philadelphia should increase its commitment to quality of life investments and resume its prior commitments to tax reduction, in order to retain and attract residents and businesses and spur widespread and inclusive private-sector job growth.

After decades of job loss, Philadelphia has enjoyed nine straight years of job growth that accelerated in 2014. Despite the recent upturn however, the city has rebounded more slowly than most peer cities.

Center City District (CCD) parks welcome the upcoming fall season, starting in September, with unique programs and amenities including activities for families, free fitness classes and Dilworth Park’s popular Hay Maze on the Greenfield Lawn presented by Dunkin’ that will pop up for a limited time in October. All programs are free to guests of all ages.

CCD and CPDC have been working since 1999 to improve the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. In 2004, CPDC released an improvement plan that has guided all CCD investments since then including: new directional and interpretive signage, pedestrian and architectural lighting, the renovation of Aviator Park, the redesign of Three Parkway Plaza and the redesign of Sister Cities Park.The goal of all these projects has been to transform the Parkway into an animated, pedestrian-friendly cultural campus.

CCD, Project Home and Philadelphia Police have partnered to create combined outreach teams that help people living on the streets connect with services and shelter.