Philadelphia is rolling out more than 250 permanent additions across 20 commercial corridors as it tries to get ready for a year that is expected to bring more than a million visitors to the city. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is slated to officially unveil the work next Wednesday, a package that includes sleek bike racks, planters and benches marked with a bell design carrying “250” in the center.
The additions are meant to last. Michael Newmuis said the city is investing directly in neighborhoods so they can capture the economic benefits of tourism, and he confirmed the benches, bike racks and planters were designed as permanent fixtures. The work is part of a $1.7 million city investment in commercial corridors, alongside a $11.5 million beautification project that includes landscaping and graffiti cleanup in sections of the Vine Street Expressway and the CSX wall.
The push comes as Philadelphia prepares for the FIFA World Cup, the MLB All-Star Game and July 4th celebrations, with 250 block parties planned across the city from May to October. In January, the city unveiled the landscaping tied to the $11.5 million project, and in June, FIFA’s fan festival at Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park will include 12 new ADA ramps, paid for with $1.5 million in city capital funds.
Philadelphia is also working on Market East, where crews are planting 40 trees, refurbishing four transit head houses and adding 20 bus shelters. The city is planning 10 murals and eight pop-up businesses on a long-dilapidated stretch of the corridor, with the business pilot set to run through summer.
Newmuis summed up the city’s bet bluntly: “Philadelphia is its own worst enemy,” he said. He added that the city only gets one chance to make a first impression, a warning that fits a tourism push built as much on curb appeal as on major events. The question is no longer whether the city will have visitors. It is whether the neighborhoods and corridors being dressed up now will be the ones that keep the money circulating after the crowds leave.
