Philly's next big (economic) thing

Courtesy 18brumaire via Flickr

Through its long history, Philadelphia's core economic strength has evolved from trade to manufacturing to "eds and meds." Lately, the talk about Philadelphia's next big thing has featured energy, specifically the processing, transport, and related spinoffs from natural gas flowing from the Marcellus Shale. Later this month, Temple University's Center on Regional Politics will hold an economic symposium to discuss, among other things, how this "energy revolution" is impacting the Philadelphia region. Economist Joel Naroff wrote in The Inquirer recently that economic activity spawned by natural gas could become one of three main pillars of the Philly region's new economy. The other two, he said, might be healthcare and hospitality businesses powered by the demands of aging Baby Boomers, and a resurgent logistics and shipping hub capitalizing on Internet retailers' growing demand for same-day delivery. Naroff argued that Philadelphia still has comparative advantages in those areas, despite its anemic economic recovery: Brookings' MetroMonitor last month showed the region has slipped to 99th out of the country's 100 biggest metropolitan regions in the overall strength of its economy.

Which employers dominate the economy?

Of Philadelphia’s 15 largest employers last year, only one is a private business not involved in education or healthcare. While you’re trying to figure out which one, we will tell you that five of the 15 companies with the most employees are from the public sector—the federal government (No. 1), city (No. 2), school district (No. 4), SEPTA (No. 8) and the state (No. 12)—and that the largest private employer is the University of Pennsylvania and its health system (No. 3). Also on the list are Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University and its hospital, Temple University and its hospital, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Independence Blue Cross and Drexel University. In other words, the government, education and healthcare sectors carry the most weight in the local labor market and economy. The only private business in the top 15 not in "eds and meds" comes in at No. 9: US Airways. (Comcast, perhaps the city's most prominent private employer, comes in at No. 17.)

Planners mark their achievements

Click for video

For a city with a colorful and contentious history of urban planning, the one-year birthday of a new comprehensive plan was cause for celebration of renewed interest in planning. At a packed anniversary event this month marking adoption of Philadelphia 2035, planners hailed recent achievements as proof that Philadelphia still can engage in meaningful, long-term planning: there is more public green space, an arts organization is redeveloping a historic building on the Delaware waterfront, and a citywide bike-sharing program will soon be launched. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission has produced a promotional video and online planning game. But speakers acknowledged that much still hinges on funding and the support of future city leaders beyond Mayor Nutter. Other cities around the country also have shown a renewed interest in long-range planning. In Detroit, the Kresge Foundation recently pledged $150 million over five years toward implementing that city’s long-range plan. New York City has continued to update milestones in its 2007 plan.

City overtime reaches three-year high

City worker overtime pay has risen back to a level not seen since 2009, driven largely by the prison system. According to an analysis by the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PDF), the city spent 9.5 percent of its total payroll costs on overtime in fiscal 2012, and expects to face the same overtime bill in fiscal 2013. That percentage is up from 8.6 percent in fiscal 2011. The last time the figure hit 9.5 percent was in fiscal 2009 during the recession. Corrections officers and other prison employees accounted for most of the increase, driven by higher numbers of inmates. For some background on the city prison system, see our 2010 report and update. 

School closings in perspective 

With closings proposed for 37 school buildings in the coming year, the Philadelphia School District would rival many major cities in the magnitude of its downsizing. In 2011, we looked at how six other cities were handling school closings. We are now working on a new report that looks at more cities, focused on what has become of their vacant school buildings. If you are not already receiving emails about our research, sign up here to be notified when our studies come out. And please tell a friend, too.

Old City among top creative neighborhoods

Courtesy GPTMC

ArtPlace, a community development campaign by private funders and federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, has placed Philadelphia's Old City neighborhood among the country's Top 12 urban areas for its arts scene and vibe. According to the first-ever ArtsPlace rankings, 18 percent of Old City residents work in "creative occupations," 93 percent of its businesses are independently owned, and the area has a high "walkability" rating. Other neighborhoods in the list include Manhattan Valley in NYC, South Beach in Miami, San Francisco's Mission District, and Washington DC's Adams Morgan/Dupont Circle area.

Overhauling Property Taxes in Philadelphia: Our study, released in November, looked at Philadelphia's plan for property tax reform in the context of what other cities and states have done, and found that Philadelphia lacks some of the elements in place elsewhere.

Residential Taxes: A Narrowing Gap Between Philadelphia and its Suburbs. This report and interactive graphic document how the residential tax burden fell in Philadelphia and rose in many suburbs from 2000 to 2012, leaving the city more competitive on local taxes with its neighboring municipalities.

Philadelphia 2013: The State of the City: We've begun working on our bi-annual State of the City report to be released in March 2013. Printed copies will be available, free of charge. To request one, send an e-mail to pubs@pewtrusts.org with your name and postal address.