Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 13, 2026

Each year the Center City District publishes a "State of Center City" report and analysis. During Covid, Center City fell on hard times as offices emptied, stores were shuttered, tourism sputtered and crime spiked. The 2026 State of Center City report depicts a downtown which has mostly recovered from the Covid dark times. Here are some highlights and some of my analysis:

42% of all Philadelphia jobs are in Center City, a total of 309,000. And Center City has 12.5% of all jobs in the Philadelphia metro area, which includes 8 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Center City is an economic engine for the region!
Despite the transition to "work at home" jobs, Center City office rentals are up 10%
In 2021, the height of Covid, on an average work day only 23% of all office workers were in their West Market offices. In mid-2026, the percentage was at 56%, still not near what it used to be pre-Covid. Office workers who don't come to their offices every day or even most days are a weakness for Center City vitality. Yet they are counted in the employment numbers if they work at times from their Center City offices. Not all 309,000 Center City workers are actually in Center City every workday.
The Convention Center, just a block from Saint John's, hosted 906,542 visitors in 2025 and is expected to break 1,000,000 visitors in 2026. The Philadelphia Flower Show had 235,000 visitors while the auto show had 160,000. Dilworth Plaza is even closer to Saint John's than the Convention Center, and in 2025 12.9 million people visited it.
The most visited attraction in Center City is the Reading Terminal Market, just a block away from Saint John's, with 5.9 million annual visitors.
In 2025, there were 3.3 million hotel nights rented in Center City.
210,710 people live in Center City, 12.5% of the population of Philadelphia. 1,879 new housing units were completed in 2025. This is a remarkable 81% increase in residents from 1990 to 2020, and the population of Center City is still growing. Center City Philadelphia is the United States' third largest residential downtown.
Across Center City, storefront occupancy is at 84%, despite challenges and setbacks. This is still significantly less than pre-Covid numbers. However, when we look at Market East numbers, the storefront occupancy numbers are not good. On Market Street east of Broad, 28% of all storefronts are vacant; on Chestnut Street east of Broad the vacancy rate is 29%; while on Walnut Street east of Broad, the vacancy rate is 14%. Market East retail is not doing well when compared to the rest of Center City.
Daytime pedestrian activity is still less in Center City than it was before Covid. I believe that most of the decline in pedestrian activity is because there are fewer office workers in Center City. Tourism is up. There are more residents. But there are fewer office workers.
SEPTA ridership grew 12% in 2025. On an average day, SEPTA brings over 107,000 people to Center City. Though the Center City District report paints a rosy picture of SEPTA, we all know that many people feel unsafe, especially on the underground trains.

What does this report mean for Saint John's? Here are my thoughts:

When I came to Saint John's in 1991, it seemed to me that the most vibrant and important part of Saint John's ministry was weekday Masses and confessions for office workers and shoppers. Workers still form the largest part of our weekday Mass and confession ministry. But this part of Saint John's ministry has diminished over the years and especially since Covid.
The resident population of Center City is booming. There are plenty of people living in our growing neighborhood! We do get lots of new parish registrations. However, it seems to me that we should have even more local parishioners. Saint John's ministry is bigger than our residential neighborhood, but we are in a large and growing neighborhood
I have often noted in this column that tourists and visitors have become a growing focus of our ministry. I estimate that 50-60% of our Sunday congregation are visitors. The number of people who visit our neighborhood is staggeringly large. Note the number of people who stay in our hotels, or visit the Convention Center or the Reading Terminal Market. The streets around Saint John's teems with people. We hope to encourage more visitors to attend Mass or visit our church for prayer or confessions.
Center City is healthy, but Market East, our local neighborhood is struggling as is evidenced by the large number of empty storefronts. Saint John's is an important anchor in this neighborhood. Not only do we provide spiritual refreshment for thousands of people, our open church is a stabilizing factor in Market East.
Our 70 or so weddings each year are an important ministry to young Catholic families. Our beautiful church weddings also support the local Center City wedding venues. Saint John's has an important role in the vitality and improvement of Center City.

The EITC (Educational Improvement Tax Credit) allows taxpayers to pay part of the taxes that they would pay to the State of Pennsylvania (not federal or local, only state taxes) to Catholic schools to assist poor families with tuition. The tax payer gets 90% of the donation back in the form of a tax credit (credit, not deduction). Thus the donor really only pays from his or her own funds, 10% of what is given. The actual cost to the donor is not large, but the assistance to a Catholic school is huge!

The EITC program allows a Pennsylvania taxpayer to help a Catholic School at little cost to the taxpayer. The taxpayer/donor can give it to Catholic Schools in general or to a particular Catholic School. I humbly ask that you consider making such a contribution to Holy Redeemer School. For information on how to make an EITC tax credit donation, please email me:

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