Center City boosters listen to tips from NYC

Philadelphia’s Center City District is teaming up with it neighbor to the north to exchange ideas. 

Elizabeth Berger of the Alliance for Downtown New York says Philadelphia has great potential for improvement, using some of the things they are doing 90 miles up the turnpike.

“In lower Manhattan, residential life has really been a catalyst for commercial vitality and that has been happening in Center City,” said Berger. “A lot of the same tools in the toolkit. I think the use of public space, which huge difference in lower Manhattan attracting commercial tenants and commercial building is something that is happening here.”

Tim Tompkins, who heads up the Times Square Alliance says Philadelphia and New York City have many of the same kind of issues and thinks one area in Center City can be revitalized just like Times Square.

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“You have this underperforming asset in Market Street East where all the facts are there in terms of potential to sort of explode in terms of economic activity be a driver for tourism and economic activity and it’s just a matter to getting to that tipping point,” said Tompkins.

Both groups are constantly monitoring each other for ideas that can be shared.  Tompkins says they are looking at a South Broad lighting display to use that for some buildings around Times Square.

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