Job Itzkowitz, Executive Director, Old City District

Job Itzkowitz, executive director of Old City District, is helping steer one of Philadelphia’s most historic neighborhoods through a period of intense change and opportunity. With the city preparing to welcome the world in 2026, Old City is advancing major investments and doubling down on its identity as both a global visitor destination and a vibrant residential neighborhood. “Our responsibility is to make sure that when people arrive, they don’t just see Old City as a great place to visit for a day, but as a neighborhood where they might want to live, invest, locate a company or acquire real estate,” Itzkowitz told Invest:.

Over the past year, what changes have had the biggest impact on Old City District, and how are they influencing your team’s priorities?

Old City is home to Independence National Historical Park, so federal decisions hit close to home. At the same time, everyone in Philadelphia is gearing up for 2026. The country wasn’t just founded in Philadelphia — it was founded in the Old City neighborhood. Old City is home to Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were adopted, and that reality is front and center as we plan for the next few years.

A lot of the energy we’re seeing right now is tied to the events Philadelphia will host, including the FIFA World Cup, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and PGA Championship. In 2025, Philadelphia hosted the FIFA Club World Cup, which gave the city and our neighborhood a preview of what’s coming.

In the meantime, we’re very focused on capital improvements we need to complete before the crowds arrive. We’re nearing the culmination of a 10-year effort on the Market Street Improvement Project, which is adding pedestrian-grade bike lanes in each direction from 2nd to 6th streets and creating a shared plaza at 2nd and Market. That plaza will guide visitors directly from the Liberty Bell into the heart of Old City. We’re also paying close attention to other capital projects across the neighborhood and making sure we get as much as possible in place before we truly welcome the world in 2026.

How are broader regional trends in employment, real estate, and tourism shaping your strategy and Old City’s positioning?

We’re absolutely paying attention to tourism trends, but what makes Old City unique is that it isn’t a tourist destination built for tourists. It’s a real, working, living neighborhood that has seen enormous growth over the last few decades. In 1980, Old City had only about 800 residents. It was industrial and manufacturing-oriented, with warehousing tied to the original docks on the river. Those docks have moved, the economy has shifted, and Old City has evolved with it.

Today, we have amenities that just didn’t exist a generation ago, like a grocery store and hardware store, and you can feel that it’s a true neighborhood where people live their daily lives. There’s an old line about Paris building parks for Parisians that tourists happen to love, while Philadelphia built parks for tourists that Philadelphians did not like. That’s changing. We’re starting to see more spaces built for Philadelphians, and visitors get a real taste of what the city is actually like.

That residential growth is now reflected in our commercial and office stock. We have some class-C office buildings that are being converted, and more conversions are in the pipeline. Whenever new housing comes on the market in Old City, it tends to lease or sell quickly. Renewal rates in apartments are high, and lease-up for new product is rapid. Developers who have recently completed ground-up projects in Old City are already looking for their next opportunity.

Old City’s culture, arts scene, retail mix, and restaurants are big draws, but location is another major factor. We’re adjacent to the central business district and within easy reach of universities and hospitals. For people who want all the conveniences of city living, Old City is incredibly well positioned.

How are you balancing preservation with modern development and innovation?

We approach that in a couple of ways. First, Old City District is a pro-growth organization. We’re a business improvement district funded by commercial property owners, and we want their spaces occupied. We see the benefits of adding residents, and we want vacant parcels developed. We believe you can build modern in a historic context, adding new buildings and new uses without undermining what people come here to see.

Second, it’s important to recognize that “historic” in Old City doesn’t just mean colonial. People think of Independence Hall and the Revolutionary War, but many of our historic buildings date from the 1850s to around 1920. These are taller commercial and industrial structures that have seen their uses evolve over time. That evolution is healthy.

Old City is a classic example of how neighborhoods change. In the 1970s and 1980s, as the industrial era faded and there weren’t many residents, artists moved in. The buildings were perfect for studios — long, tall spaces where you didn’t need expansive windows. The ground floors became galleries. Those galleries started the First Friday arts walk in the early 1990s, bringing people into the neighborhood.

Restaurants followed, then furniture showrooms, then boutique retail and now many bridal-oriented businesses. The same basic spaces have responded to very different demands over time. Our view is that we should embrace those shifts. Preservation is important, but it can’t become a barrier to change, or you risk stagnation and decline.

We’ve also advocated for policy changes that support smart growth. One example is eliminating parking mandates in Old City. It used to be that any new building had to include parking, but no matter how much parking you build, it will never feel like enough in a dense, historic neighborhood. We heard clearly that people wanted more walking and biking and fewer cars. So we used that feedback to recommend removing parking requirements, which reduces curb cuts and driveways, improves the pedestrian environment and makes projects more economically viable.

What is your outlook for Old City and your top midterm priorities?

If you look five years out, the outlook for Old City is very bright. We’re going to have a tremendous kickoff in 2026. There will be an influx of attention, investment and visitors. Our responsibility is to make sure that when people arrive, they don’t just see Old City as a great place to visit for a day, but as a neighborhood where they might want to live, invest, locate a company or acquire real estate.

From there, I see only blue skies. I expect to get a lot of calls from people asking how they can be part of this neighborhood and support Old City, Philadelphia. In some ways, Philadelphia has received less attention than other cities — New York, Washington, D.C., other global hubs — but this is a moment for Philadelphia to be in the spotlight. We have the amenities and talent of other major American cities, but at a lower cost, and Old City is one of the best examples of that value proposition.

From a planning perspective, we think in long timeframes. We’re wrapping up a 10-year plan that culminates in 2026. After that, we’ll probably look to a 15-year horizon — something like 2040, which gives us a meaningful target. The focus will be on going back to the drawing board, building upon what we’ve already done and mapping out how to continue the progress we’ve made over the next 15 years.