Center City, Philadelphia facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Center City, Philadelphia
Neighborhood of Philadelphia
Center City Philadelphia
Center City within Philadelphia
Country	United States of America
State	Pennsylvania
County	Philadelphia
City	Philadelphia
Area
• Total	7.7 sq mi (20 km²)
Population (2010)
• Total	173,284
• Density	22,504/sq mi (8,689/km²)
ZIP Code	19102, 19103, 19106, 19107, 19109, 19146, 19147

Map of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania highlighting the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854

Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous with Philadelphia County. Greater Center City has grown into the second-most densely populated downtown area in the United States, after Midtown Manhattan in New York City, with an estimated 173,284 residents in 2010.

Geography

Boundaries

I-676 underground in Center City at 12th Street and Vine Street

Center City is bounded by South Street to the south, the Delaware River to the east, the Schuylkill River to the west, and Vine Street to the north. This means that Center City occupies the boundaries of the city before it was made coterminous with Philadelphia County in 1854. The Center City District, which has special powers of taxation, uses a complicated, irregularly shaped boundary that includes much but not all of this area, and also extends beyond it. The Philadelphia Police Department patrols three districts located within Center City. The three patrol districts serving Center City are the 6th, 9th, and 17th districts.

Neighborhood features

Among Center City's neighborhoods and districts are Penn's Landing, Old City, Society Hill, South Street, Washington Square West, Market East, Chinatown, Logan Square, the Museum District (located along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway), Rittenhouse Square, Fitler Square, the Avenue of the Arts (South Broad Street), and Jewelers' Row.

The Philadelphia City Hall in Center City

Center City is home to most of Philadelphia's tallest buildings, including Philadelphia's City Hall, the second tallest masonry building in the world and until 1987 the tallest in Philadelphia, as well as the tallest building in the world for seven years. In March 1987, One Liberty Place broke the gentlemen's agreement not to exceed the height of the statue of William Penn atop City Hall. Since the completion of One Liberty Place, no Philadelphia major-league sports team had 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 3-foot statue of Penn was affixed to the top of the Comcast Center upon its completion as the city's new tallest building in 2007. On October 29, 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series, effectively ending the "curse"

Logan Circle

Center City at night

Seven other skyscrapers 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, is now the tallest building in Pennsylvania, 30 feet taller than One Liberty Place. Two buildings now under construction — 1441 Chestnut and the Comcast Technology Center — are also slated to be taller than City Hall. The latter would be the eighth-tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the tallest outside of Manhattan and Chicago. The first publicly accessible vantage point higher than City Hall opened at One Liberty Observation Deck on the 57th floor of One Liberty Place in 2015.

Other Center City skyscrapers include the BNY Mellon Center and the Three Logan Square, which houses a traffic camera used by the Philadelphia branch of the Westwood One MetroNetworks traffic service.

Across the street from City Hall is the Masonic Temple, the headquarters of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, a legacy of the Founding Fathers and signers of the Declaration of Independence, many of whom were Freemasons; such luminaries include George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.

While Philadelphia's population declined, Center City's rose 10% between 1990 and 2000.

In 2007, the city designated the area bound by 11th Street, Broad Street, Chestnut Street and Pine Street as the Gayborhood.

Neighborhoods

Transportation

Main page: Transportation in Philadelphia

Ben Franklin Bridge connects Center City with New Jersey

Major highways

Interstate 76
Interstate 95
Interstate 676 / Ben Franklin Bridge
U.S. Route 30
PA Route 3
PA Route 611

Local public transit

Center City Commuter Connection
SEPTA
- Jefferson Station (Regional Rail)
- Suburban Station (Regional Rail)
- Market-Frankford Line (2nd Street, 5th Street, 8th Street, 11th Street, 13th Street, and 15th Street stations)
- Broad Street Line (Spring Garden, Race-Vine, City Hall, Walnut-Locust, and Lombard-South stations on main line; Chinatown and 8th Street stations on Broad-Ridge Spur)
- Subway-surface trolley lines (13th Street, 15th Street, 19th Street, and 22nd Street stations; all stations on Market Street)
- Various bus routes
PATCO Speedline (8th & Market, 9-10th & Locust, 12-13th & Locust, and 15-16th & Locust Street stations)
New Jersey Transit (various bus routes & stops)

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 under Market Street and Broad Street, the concourse spans east to west from 8th street to 18th street and north to south from John F. Kennedy Boulevard to Spruce Street.

Intercity public transit

Interior of Philadelphia's 30th Street Station

Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal (Greyhound, Peter Pan, and various Trailways buses)
Megabus (30th Street Station)
Various Chinatown bus lines (various operators & stops; most stops near 11th & Arch Streets)

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 Transit Atlantic City Line trains, Market-Frankford Line trains, and subway-surface line trolleys also service 30th Street Station, and both Megabus and BoltBus stop on streets adjacent to the station.

As of 2016^[update] Taiwanese airline China Airlines provides a private bus service to and from John 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.

Center City Residents' Association

The Center City Residents' Association, originally formed in 1947 to prevent Rittenhouse 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.

Gallery

The eastern portion of Center City from the One Liberty Observation Deck
Carpenters' Hall
LOVE Park with the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the distant background
National Museum of American Jewish History
Friendship Gate in Chinatown
Jewelers' Row
Interior of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul
Curtis Center
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Mikveh Israel Cemetery
The Grand Court at Wanamaker's Department Store
Pennsylvania Hospital
Kimmel Center
Independence Hall as seen from the Liberty Bell
Inquirer Building
First Bank of the United States
Reading Terminal

Economy

Comcast Center

Sunoco has its headquarters in the BNY Mellon Center. Cigna has its corporate headquarters in Two Liberty Place. Aramark is headquartered in Center City. Comcast is headquartered in the Comcast Center. The law firm Cozen O'Connor has its headquarters in Center City. Kogan Page has its United States offices in Center City.

Reading Terminal Market in Center City

Lincoln National Corporation moved its headquarters from Indiana to Philadelphia in 1999. In Philadelphia Lincoln was headquartered in the West Tower of Centre Square in Center City. In 2007 the company moved 400 employees, including its top executives, to Radnor Township from Philadelphia.

Education

Public schools

School District of Philadelphia

Residents are within the School 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.

In 2005, to prevent the flight of middle-class families, the school district and the Center City District, an economic development agency, started a program that promoted public schools in Center City (including Rittenhouse Square and Society Hill) and adjacent areas in Fairmount, Northern Liberties, and South Philadelphia.

K-8 schools that have attendance boundaries in Center City and areas around Center City include:

- It opened in September 1954 as the Center City School after the Center City Residents Association (CCRA) advocated for its establishment. It was initially housed in a YWCA and later in the former Jerrold Electronics Building. In 1964 the school district bought the site for a permanent campus, which began construction in 1966 and opened in September 1970.
General George A. McCall in Society Hill
Chester A. Arthur
William H. Harrison
Andrew Jackson
General Philip Kearny
James R. Ludlow
William M. Meredith
George W. Nebinger
Spring Garden
Edwin M. Stanton
Laura Wheeler Waring

Neighborhood high schools for Center City and the Center City area, located outside of Center City, include:

Furness High School
Benjamin Franklin High School
South Philadelphia High School

Other high schools include:

Bodine High School for International Affairs
Constitution High School for American Studies
Franklin Learning Center High School
Parkway Center City High School
Philadelphia High School for Business and Technology
Science Leadership Academy

Combined middle and high schools include:

Julia R. Masterman School

Charter schools

Charter schools not operated by the School District of Philadelphia include:

Grades 1-12:
- Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School
Grades 7-12:
The Mastery Charter Schools system operates the Mastery Charter Lenfest Campus (7-12) in Old City. It moved from North Philadelphia to Old City in 2002.
Grades 5-8:
- Freire Charter Middle School
Grades 6-12:
- World Communications Charter School
Grades 9-12:
- Architecture and Design Charter School
- Freire Charter High School
- Mastery Charter High School
- Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter School
Grades K-8:
- Laboratory Charter School of Communication and Languages
- Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School
Grades 6-8:
- Wakisha Charter School
Grades K-7:
- Christopher Columbus Charter School
- Independence Charter School grades K-8
- People for People Charter School
Grades Pre-K-8:
- Russell Byers Charter School
Grades K-6:
- Universal Institute Charter School

Private schools

Roman Catholic parochial schools

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia operates the following Roman Catholic parochial schools in the Center City area [1]:

Grades 9-12:
- J. W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School
- Roman Catholic High School
Grades Pre-K-8:
- St. Francis Xavier School
- St. Peter the Apostle School
Grades K-8:
- St. Mary's Interparochial School
Grades 1-8:
- Holy Redeemer School

Other private schools

Other private schools in the Center City area include:

Grades Pre-K-12:
- Friends Select School
Grades 9-12:
- City Center Academy
Grades Pre-K-8:
- - The Philadelphia School

Public libraries

The Free Library of Philadelphia operates the Parkway Central Library at 1901 Vine Street, the Independence Branch at 18 South 7th Street, the Philadelphia City Institute on the first floor and lower level of an apartment complex at 1905 Locust Street, and the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at 919 Walnut Street.

Other institutions

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools is headquartered in Center City.

Notable residents

Kevin Bacon, actor and musician.
Zach Ertz, American football player for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Images for kids

Albert M. Greenfield School on Chestnut Street in Center City, April 2019
Center City viewed from the PSFS Building