Center City | |
|---|---|
 TheSchuylkill River (foreground) and Center City Philadelphia (background) in July 2016 | |
 Center City within Philadelphia | |
| Coordinates:39°57′07″N75°09′50″W / 39.952°N 75.164°W /39.952; -75.164 | |
| Country |  US |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Philadelphia |
| City | Philadelphia |
| Area | |
• Total | 7.7 sq mi (20 km2) |
| Population (2020)[2] | |
• Total | 202,000 |
| • Density | 26,234/sq mi (10,129/km2) |
| ZIP Codes | 19102, 19103, 19106–19107, 19109, 19146–19147 |
Center City includes thecentral business district and central neighborhoods ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to theAct of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous withPhiladelphia County.
The area has grown to the second-most densely populated downtown area in the United States (afterMidtown Manhattan in New York City), with an estimated 202,000 residents in 2020 and a population density of 26,234 per square mile.[3]
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Center City is bounded bySouth Street to the south, theDelaware River to the east, theSchuylkill River to the west, and Vine Street to the north.[4] The district occupies the old boundaries of the City of Philadelphia beforethe city was made coterminous with Philadelphia County in 1854. The Center City District, which has special powers of taxation,[5] has a complicated, irregularly shaped boundary that includes much but not all of this area and also extends beyond it.[6] ThePhiladelphia Police Department patrols four districts located within Center City – the 6th, 9th, 3rd, and 17th districts.[7]
Among Center City's neighborhoods and districts arePenn's Landing,Old City,Society Hill,South Street,Washington Square West,Market East,Chinatown,Logan Square, theMuseum District (located along theBenjamin Franklin Parkway),Rittenhouse Square,Fitler Square, theAvenue of the Arts (South Broad Street), andJewelers' Row.
Center City is home to most of Philadelphia's tallest buildings, includingPhiladelphia's City Hall, the second-tallestmasonry building in the world and, until 1987, the tallest in Philadelphia, as well as thetallest building in the world for fourteen years (1894–1908). In March 1987,One Liberty Place broke thegentlemen's agreement not to exceed the height of thestatue of William Penn atop City Hall. Upon the completion of One Liberty Place, no Philadelphia major-league sports team won a world championship for the next two decades, a phenomenon known as the "Curse of Billy Penn". In an effort to reverse the curse, a three-foot statue of Penn was affixed to the top of theComcast Center upon its completion as the city's new tallest building in 2007. On October 29, 2008, thePhiladelphia Phillies won the2008 World Series, ending the "curse".
Seven otherskyscrapers now exceed the height of Penn's statue, including One Liberty Place's little sister,Two Liberty Place. The Comcast Center, which was completed in 2007, became thetallest building in Pennsylvania, 30 feet taller than One Liberty Place. In 2018, theComcast Technology Center opened, which is now the tallest building in Philadelphia and the tallest building in the United States outside ofManhattan and Chicago. 1441 Chestnut, which is currently under construction, is also slated to be taller than City Hall. The first publicly accessible vantage point higher than City Hall opened atOne Liberty Observation Deck on the 57th floor of One Liberty Place in 2015.
Other Center City skyscrapers include theBNY Mellon Center and theThree Logan Square, which houses a traffic camera used by the Philadelphia branch of theWestwood One MetroNetworks traffic service.
Across the street from City Hall is theMasonic Temple, the headquarters of theGrand Lodge of Pennsylvania, a legacy of theFounding Fathers and signers of theDeclaration of Independence, many of whom wereFreemasons; these includeGeorge Washington andBenjamin Franklin. While Philadelphia's population declined between 1990 and 2000, Center City's population increased by 10% over that same period.
In 2007, the city designated the area bound by 11th Street, Broad Street, Chestnut Street and Pine Street as theGayborhood.[8]
Sunoco has its headquarters in theBNY Mellon Center.[9]Cigna has its corporate headquarters in2 Liberty Place.[10]Aramark is headquartered in Center City on the east bank of the Schuylkill River on Market Street.[11]Comcast is headquartered in theComcast Center.[12] The law firmCozen O'Connor has its headquarters in Center City.[13]Kogan Page has its U.S. headquarters in Center City.[14]
Lincoln National Corporation moved its headquarters fromFort Wayne, Indiana to Philadelphia in 1999.[15] In Philadelphia Lincoln was headquartered in the West Tower ofCentre Square in Center City.[16] In 2007, the company moved 400 employees, including its top executives, toRadnor Township fromPhiladelphia.[15]
Center City is home to some of the largest and most prominent buildings in the United States, including:
ThePhiladelphia Fire Department operates five fire stations in Center City:
TheFederal Bureau of Prisons Northeast Region Office is in the U.S. Custom House, a part of theIndependence National Historical Park, inOld City, Center City.[17]
The William J. Green Jr. Federal Building houses theFederal Bureau of Investigation PhiladelphiaField Office.[18]
TheConsulate-General of Italy in Philadelphia is located in the 1026 Public Ledger Building at 150 South Independence Mall West.[19] TheConsulate-General of Panama in Philadelphia is located in Suite 1 at 124 Chestnut Street.[20] TheConsulate of Mexico in Philadelphia is located in Suite 310 of theBourse Building off of Independence Mall.[21]
TheConsulate-General of the Dominican Republic in Philadelphia was located in Suite 216 in the Lafayette Building at 437 Chestnut Street.[22] It closed on November 7, 2005.[23] The Consulate-General of Israel in Philadelphia was located on the 18th Floor at 1880 John F. Kennedy Boulevard.[24] Israel closed the Philadelphia consulate in 2016.[25]
Residents of Center City are included within theSchool District of Philadelphia. From the 1940s to the opening of what is now known as the Greenfield School in 1954, many residents attended public schools in other areas and private schools due to the low number of public schools in Center City.[26]
In 2005, in an attempt to slow the flight of middle-class families, the school district and Center City District, an economic development agency, launched a program that promoted public schools in Center City, includingRittenhouse Square andSociety Hill, and adjacent areas inFairmount,Northern Liberties, andSouth Philadelphia.[27]
K-8 schools that have attendance boundaries in Center City and areas around Center City include:[28]
Neighborhood high schools for Center City and the Center City area, located outside of Center City, include:[29][30][31]
Other high schools include:
Combined middle and high schools include:
Charter schools not operated by the School District of Philadelphia include:[34]
TheRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia operates the followingRoman Catholic parochial schools in the Center City area[1]:
Other private schools in the Center City area include:
TheFree Library of Philadelphia operates theParkway Central Library at 1901 Vine Street,[36] the Independence Branch at 18 South 7th Street,[37] the Philadelphia City Institute on the first floor and lower level of an apartment complex at 1905Locust Street,[38] and the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at 919 Walnut Street.[39]
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools is headquartered in Center City.[40]
Center City Philadelphia is home to some of the nation and world's leading cultural institutions.Avenue of the Arts, a city-designated cultural district, includesKimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which houses thePhiladelphia Orchestra (aBig Five orchestra) and theAcademy of Music, home of thePhiladelphia Ballet andOpera Philadelphia. The avenue is home to multiple theatres, including theMiller,Suzanne Roberts, andWilma theatres.Forrest Theatre is also located in center city, at 1114Walnut Street.
Mütter Museum, a medical museum, is located in center city at 19 S. 22nd Street.
Center City Philadelphia has a vast number of restaurants, bars, and nightclubs.McGillin's Olde Ale House, at 1310 Drury Street, is one of the nation's oldest pubs (founded in 1860).
Center city streets and bridges includeBenjamin Franklin Bridge, which connects the city withCamden, New Jersey, andBenjamin Franklin Parkway, a one-mile long parkway that runs fromPhiladelphia City Hall to thePhiladelphia Museum of Art. Three major center city streets areBroad,Market, andSouth Streets.
There is a 500,000+ sq ft underground pedestrian concourse that connects many of the center city Septa stations to businesses and office buildings. Primarily running underMarket Street andBroad Street, the concourse spans east to west from 8th street to 18th street and north to south fromJohn F. Kennedy Boulevard toSpruce Street.
Amtrak's primary Philadelphia station,30th Street Station, is located immediately west of Center City, just across the Schuylkill River. SEPTA Regional Rail trains, New Jersey TransitAtlantic City Line trains, Market-Frankford Line trains, and subway-surface line trolleys also service 30th Street Station, and both Megabus andBoltBus stop on streets adjacent to the station.
As of 2016[update] Taiwanese airlineChina Airlines provides a private bus service to and fromJohn F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City for customers based in the Philadelphia area. This service previously stopped in Center City in front of the Marriott Hotel.[41]
TheCenter City Residents' Association, originally formed in 1947 to preventRittenhouse Square from being turned into a parking lot, is a primary advocate for quality of life issues in Center City. Other community organizations of this type include Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Society Hill Civic Association, South of South Street Neighborhood Association, Washington Square West Civic Association, and the Queen Village Neighbors Association.
Kogan Page Publishers 1518 Walnut Street, Suite 1100 Philadelphia, PA 19102
