Although Center City is less of a regional draw than it used to be, restaurants and retail are booming due to the rising downtown residential population. The pandemic fundamentally altered shopping patterns in Center City, new research from commercial real estate services firm CBRE shows, sending foot traffic on Sundays soaring as more retail demand is driven by downtown residents. CBRE’s study also shows that Walnut and Chestnut streets used to draw on a much larger geographic area for its customers in 2019, with 60% to 70% of visitors coming from a 2,500-square-mile area around Center City. In 2024 that area had shrunk to 970 square miles, meaning the city has become much less of a regional draw as farther-flung residents stay closer to home. But Center City’s booming population and, as important, that of its surrounding neighborhoods has made up for the diminished presence of suburbanites. As a result, Center City retail is unusually healthy in comparison to other U.S. downtowns. In another recent report comparing all of America’s largest central cities, CBRE noted that downtown Philadelphia is uniquely thriving due to its dense mixture of uses with retail, office and residential in extremely close — if not overlapping — proximity.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 9/23/2024