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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.
This new CCD/CPDC report examines the current state of the downtown restaurant and retail sectors. Using pedestrian, transit and parking occupancy counts and detailed visual surveys of almost 2,000 retail premises, conducted by CCD staff, the report provides a close-up look at business conditions, supplemented with information from the commercial office sector, employment trends, housing market data and ecommerce trends.
The 75-page State of Center City, 2017 report has been released, utilizing the latest research, original reporting and analysis, plus charts and photos to present a downtown that has progressed a long way, but presents a few lingering challenges.
Center City continued to show promising signs of recovery throughout the summer months, buoyed by returning conventions and office workers and increasing numbers of pedestrians who are contributing to rising retail and restaurant sales, local tax revenue, new business openings and increases in convention travel and hotel occupancy.
The 3-day event features live music, festive décor, family-friendly activities and an opportunity to get vaccinated!