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Center City District summer programming returns this week to Dilworth Park and Sister Cities Park, featuring smaller-scale, lower-key events for guests of all ages.
CCD SIPS has redefined the happy hour scene in Philadelphia. This June 5 through August 28, more than 80 bars and restaurants will participate, with Dilworth Park, Cret Park and Sister Cities Park all included and offering an experience unlike the others.
Center City District (CCD) is launching an advertising campaign across multiple media platforms to promote Philadelphia’s restaurants during the coldest winter months from January through March. The new campaign encourages the public to patronize restaurants through takeout orders, because not all restaurants have been able to install heated outdoor dining areas and the return to indoor dining will probably be gradual when it begins.
Center City District SIPS is back after a two-year hiatus with weekly discounts at dozens of local bars and restaurants on Wednesday nights throughout the District. This unique happy hour program brings back the opportunity for returning office workers to explore all that Center City has to offer once the work day ends.
As Philadelphia marks the two-year anniversary of the mandated citywide COVID-19 shutdown on March 16, 2020, Center City continues to show promising signs of recovery, buoyed by rising numbers of pedestrians who are supporting increases in retail and restaurant sales, local tax revenue, new store openings and downtown vibrancy.
At the start of 2020, before the pandemic upended daily life and shook every aspect of the city’s economy, Philadelphia was in its 11th straight year of growth. Now, as vaccination rates rise and vitality is steadily returning to the downtown and neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia, the CCD and CPDC are releasing a pair of reports which look at the past year’s challenges and track multiple indicators of recovery.
Center City’s commercial core is experiencing a sustained process of recovery, with new businesses opening and existing retailers moving to new, often larger locations, according to the just-released CCD/CPDC Center City Retail Update. In the first quarter of 2022, taxable retail sales in the core of Center City reached 94% of 2019 levels and restaurant sales reached 74% of 2019 levels.
Beginning this September, Center City District will introduce a full lineup of fall events at Dilworth Park, including a weekend-long Octoberfest, free concerts and the fifth anniversary of Philly’s premiere public space.