Not Your Daddy's Philadelphia

Last weekend's graduation at Penn also brought back alum for their 15th or 20th or 25th or whatever reunion.  (Btw, how crazy is it that my 20th is next year...can I be that old?)  Much of the chatter from Facebook friends of mine from those eras was along the lines of "Wow, I could hardly recognize campus, what with all the new construction!" Indeed, Penn's turned over a lot in the last 15-25 years.  And so has University City and Philadelphia. 

When I travel to California or other parts of the country and catch up with college friends of mine and they find out I still live in Philly, not far from campus, I am often greeted with a sense of patronizing condescension, as if it's "cute" or "noble" that I've stuck it out in such a rat-hole when most of the rest of our peers have moved out and up.  I just smile knowingly back at them, knowing that the next time life brings them back to Philly, whether for a wedding, reunion, or conference, they're going to have their socks blown off by how incredibly great our neighborhood and city is. 

To be sure, we've come a long way.  And to be sure, we still have a long way to go.  But Philly, and University City, has always had a lot going for it.  I feel good that I've seen it all along.  And I feel good that more and more people come back for whatever reason and can see it too.