PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A new 2022 pedestrian report shows Center City Philadelphia is slowly recovering from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paul Levy, president of the Center City District, said pedestrian patterns are slowly starting to revert back to what they looked like before the pandemic.
Levy said the greatest increase involved visitors and shoppers coming into the area.
“We’re back up to 85% in the broader area of the downtown which is Vine [Street] to Pine [Street], [Schuylkill] River to [Delaware] River,” Levy said.
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In the area of what the Center City District calls the commercial core, from Eighth to 19th streets and from JFK Boulevard to Walnut Street, pedestrian volumes have reached 75% compared to September 2019.
“We're seeing those same kinds of steady morning buildups on the shopping streets on West Chestnut and West Walnut Street,” Levy explained. “We're seeing that more traditional patterns of a peak at the morning rush hour, a peak at lunchtime, and a peak in the evening.”
Levy said that about 70,000 people live in that area, with more residents living in Center City than before the pandemic.
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“Huge volumes of pedestrians that have been very good for shopping, for hotels and for restaurants,” said Levy.
Office worker numbers are also up, though they have been slower to return. Comcast, Jefferson and other employees returning to their Center City buildings has helped boost that percentage upward in the latest report, compiled in September.
“We jumped from a 38 to 40% return of office workers up into the high 50s,” said Levy. “It's a good sign.”