Pedestrian Vitality: July 2023

Center City continued its steady process of recovery in June and during the first three weeks of July with pedestrian volumes reaching 92% of 2019 levels. The robust recovery of residents and visitors has led the way, while the number of workers in June approached 100,000, attaining 76% of June 2019 levels. Within the West Market Street office district, workers reached 57% of the 2019 level, a post-pandemic high.

The average daily population in the core of Center City, the area from Vine Street to South Street, river to river, increased to 384,300 in June, up 2% from 377,000 in the previous month, according to cellphone location data provided by Placer.ai. The June population included a daily average of 64,300 residents, 97,900 non-resident workers of all kinds, and 222,000 other visitors, which includes shoppers, tourists, convention attendees, health care patients, or anyone who visits Center City for business or leisure. The trends clearly show that we have not reached any plateau in the return to office nor any new equilibrium: hybrid work patterns continue to evolve with a gradual increase in the return to office.

For full details on the report findings, download the new 7-page report, Building Back A More Diverse Downtown.