Center City is one of the safest areas in Philadelphia, report says
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A report from the Brookings Institution shows that Center City is one of the safest areas in Philadelphia.
Police say there have been 118 homicides in the city this year, which is down from this time in 2022.
So, there is no doubt that we are dealing with a gun crisis in Philadelphia. But as this study shows, Center City is one of the safest places to be.
"Everybody wants to make like Philly is the worst place to live," Charlene Samuels said. "I disagree, so yes. I love this city."
Samuels has lived her entire life in Philadelphia and she says she hates the perception that her city is dangerous.
"You have a few issues and things that happen, but we always want to jump to something being dangerous cause of a few people. I think we got to be careful with that the way we report things."
Others agree that Philly is not a bad place.
"You hear the music, the people, everybody is smiling," Nelly Calloway, a Philadelphia native, said.
"Downtown Philadelphia, especially when it's bright out, I don't think there's anything to worry about," another man said.
Despite recent reports of youth swarming the Fashion District earlier this month, and a man being killed on the Broad Street Line last week, the Brookings report shows most of the issues plaguing Philadelphia are not occurring in Center City.
The study shows that city-wide, between 2019 and 2022, property crime was up 38%.
But Center City accounted for less than 1% of that. During the study period, violent crime was also flat in Center City.
"I would love to see more young people feeling safer but I still feel Philly is a great place to be," said Amanda Molinaro, who commutes to Center City from Bucks County.
"We've been here before when people had a negative image of the city. I don't want to minimize the challenge," Paul Levy, of the Center City District, said.
Levy, the president of the Center City District, says they've added unarmed personnel to patrol Center City. He says the city is doing well in its post-pandemic recovery
"The city is doing remarkably," Levy said. "There's more people living in Center City now than in 2019. Our visitor levels are at 92% of pre-pandemic levels on the weekends and 74% on the weekends, so visitors are coming back."
Levy says his staff, police from the city, SEPTA, and the School District meet regularly to address problems.