Aerial Photos of Philadelphia for the Center City District

Since its founding in 1990, the Center City District organization has done wonders for downtown Philadelphia, including elevating quality of life, encouraging residential and commercial development and spurring the ongoing restaurant boom. As of the 2010 Census, Philly had the third largest downtown population in the country, coming in after New York City and Chicago with more than 57,000 residents. As two of those residents, Mark and I were thrilled when the CCD contacted us to license two of our aerial shots for marketing and promotion.

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The shot above looks east, with University City and parts of U Penn and Drexel’s campus in the foreground. Just before the Schuylkill is 30th Street Station, the former Post Office (now IRS building) and the Cira Centre. Then comes Center City, with its distinctive Liberty One and Two towers and Billy Penn atop City Hall. You can see the Ben Franklin Bridge, and beyond the Delaware River lies Camden and the rest of New Jersey.

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The second image the CCD chose from our Philly aerials library looks northwest. At the bottom of the shot is the Kimmel Center and the gorgeous Beaux Arts Drake and Bellevue buildings. City Hall is prominent in the mid-right of the photo, followed by Liberty Place, the Comcast Center and then the Art Museum, as your eye is led along the Schuylkill River, winding its way through Fairmount Park.

Helicopters sure are fun. Special thanks to our client Brandywine Realty Trust, who sent the CCD our way.