You Searched
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.
Center City continued its steady process of recovery in June and during the first three weeks of July with pedestrian volumes in July reaching 92% of 2019 levels. During the month of June, the combined number of residents, workers and visitors were up 2% from the previous month.
From sidewalk cafés and well-managed parks to seasonal pop-up gardens and reclaimed office plazas, outdoor seating in Center City continues to expand and now numbers 428 locations with 6,743 seats from Vine Street to South Street, river to river, according to a new report from the Center City District/Central Philadelphia Development Corporation.
Pedestrian activity in the core of Center City continued to increase during the last quarter of 2022 and into the first two weeks of January 2023, as the volume of residents, workers and visitors of all types downtown continued to grow.
Citywide employment has fully rebounded from the spring 2020 shutdown with 2.4% more jobs in October 2023 than in February 2020. But there is a difference between the return of workers to payrolls and the return of full vitality to Center City. The report suggests ways to accelerate the job growth and business formation rates in Philadelphia.
On Tuesday, May 11, 2021, CPDC hosted a virtual membership meeting to review the annual report State of Center City 2021 and the most recent recovery report, Monitoring Philadelphia’s Economic Recovery, May 2021. Industry leaders discussed what is needed for continued recovery and getting office workers, visitors and tourists to return to offices, reanimate hotels and restore jobs in Center City Philadelphia.