The term ‘sprawl’ typically conjures up images of McMansions in the middle of cornfields, bumper-to-bumper highway congestion, or big-box retailers dotting the landscape. Often left out of this picture are office uses that have followed residents out to their suburban and exurban homesteads, at the expense of central business districts (CBD). In Philadelphia, for example, the highly walkable, transit-served, amenity rich CBD has seen its regional office share decline from 41% in 1993 to 28% in 2011. The
State of Center City, 2012 report outlines numerous reasons for this decline, most prominently citing the City’s outdated tax structure as the culprit, and recommends comprehensive tax reform to remediate the issue.
This has been a cause for concern for Philly boosters and urban enthusiasts alike. As Center City continues to grow in popularity as a place to live and play, jobs continue leaving for greener pastures,
GlaxoSmithKline vacating its CBD digs for the Navy Yard being a recent example. This trend has left many unanswered questions regarding the future of Center City: is Center City becoming a bedroom community, how will this affect public transportation use, and what will an increase in reverse-commuting do to our road systems?
While some have been hitting the ‘future of Center City’ panic button rather hard, more recently, there has been increased cause for optimism. Two notable tech/software firms,
Bentley Systems’ and
Fiberlink, have announced plans to relocate their operations to Center City, both citing a desire to be nearer to the younger, well-educated Center City residents who value the live-work setting.
These two firms are clearly onto something, following what their workers
already want: according to
Center City District reports, between 2000 and 2009, Philly added over 16,000 people ages 25 to 34, with a college degree or more, to Center City or nearby ‘hoods. In fact, Center City boasts the third highest downtown resident population of any United States city, sitting only behind New York’s and Chicago’s CBD’s.
As antiquated and rigid as the State of Center City report suggests Philly’s tax structure is, a driving force here is simply the ‘jobs follows households’ phenomenon that was popularized by the decentralization of residents and jobs following World War II and something that now seems to be reversing. The more Philly can attract and retain those wanting to live in Center City and its environs, the more jobs that cater to them will follow. So while the tax structure likely needs restructuring, so too does the region’s focus on the importance of migration and attracting urbanites to continue populating Philly’s core.
Writer: Greg Meckstroth