In June 2022, The Pew Charitable Trusts assessed the status of Philadelphia’s economic recovery two years into the pandemic, identifying five key questions likely to determine the city’s future performance. Those questions concerned jobs, the level of remote work, the size of the workforce, the strength of the housing market, and the implications for an equitable recovery.

In many ways, 2024 is a year of significant transition for Philadelphia. In this year of transition, the challenge is clear for Philadelphia and its new leaders: They must nurture and strengthen the positive trends while making progress on a set of deep-seated problems that can sometimes seem intractable.

The start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced officials in cities throughout the country to deal with unexpected budget shortfalls quickly. To close a projected one-year gap of $649 million, Philadelphia was forced to take several steps—including drawing down its operating fund balance, postponing planned tax-rate reductions, temporarily increasing some taxes, and reducing spending. But that didn’t address the long-term fiscal issues.

The persistence of remote and hybrid work is an ongoing concern among local officials across the country, who worry that it will inevitably lead to decreased demand for office space and a drop in the value of office buildings—resulting in lower assessments and reduced property tax revenues.