Philadelphia is getting ready for the arrival of Pope Francis and Catholics from Connecticut who will travel to the city to see him.
It will be the Pope's first trip to the United States. He plans to stop in Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who visited Bridgeport today, said the city is expecting at least a million people the weekend of Sept. 26.
Connecticut residents who have not bought tickets to see the Pope in New York or Washington, D.C. still have a chance to see him for free in Philadelphia, according to Nutter.
The only Philadelphia event that requires a ticket will take place Sept. 26 at Independence Hall. Some 10,000 free tickets were claimed in a matter of minutes.
"In the Philadelphia events, they're open to everyone from across the country and around the world, so because they're much smaller venues, I guess they’ve had to limit the number of tickets that are available," said Nutter.
Visitors will not need tickets for the Pope's appearance at the closing festival of the World Meeting of Families, also held Sept. 26, or for the celebration of Mass on Sept. 27, according to organizers.
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Nutter said the easiest way to get around will be to use mass transit.
"We’re not allowing in-bound traffic in to certain parts of center city," he explained.
Visitors can also still find places to stay.
"There’s still hotel availability and some really great deals out there so folks should go on whatever websites they go on, you can still get a hotel in Philadelphia in Center City," said Nutter.
But with so many people traveling to Philadelphia, the mayor said security will be tight.
"We just need to make sure that we have as few conflicts, for instance, between pedestrians and motorists, and how many vehicles are on the streets of our city," said Nutter.
The mayor said it’s hard to know what the economic impact will be with all the people coming, but the city is expecting guests to do a fair amount of spending.
