Is your family originally from Philly? Is that why you always poke fun at it? ;-)
I remember the parade. I was in high school at the time.
I like what they have done with Center City, and even parts of Northern Liberties. Nevertheless, the rest of the city is a war zone (North Broad, West Philly) or stuck in 1967 (Northeast Philly). I once went on a NE Philly chat group, I felt like I was in a time warp. ;-)
We spent six months living in Turnersville, not too far from the Walt Whitman Bridge on the Jersey side. My dad's office was at the airport (which needed to be privatized yesterday). I remember meeting the Philly Fanatic at Johnny Callison's car dealership.