Philadelphians have spent decades developing an inferiority complex about New York.

Maybe we’ve been comparing ourselves to the wrong city.

French soccer fans visiting for the World Cup spent this week looking around Center City and noticing something many locals overlook: Philadelphia is surprisingly French. The Parkway was modeled after the Champs-Élysées. City Hall looks like it belongs in Paris. Even Michelin once called Philadelphia the “Frenchest city” in America.

We’ll take it.

Most American cities get compared to other American cities: Philadelphia gets compared to one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world.

Sure, Paris has the Eiffel Tower. But Paris doesn’t have roast pork sandwiches, Gritty, or people arguing over parking permits at 7 a.m.

Philadelphia real estate listings can get weird.

You might get a rowhouse with a hidden speakeasy, a church converted into condos, maybe even a former firehouse.

But a Germantown mansion that comes with a legally protected Revolutionary War battle reenactment on the front lawn is a different level.

The owner of Upsala, a historic estate now listed for sale, revealed this week that the property’s easement requires future owners to allow reenactments of the Battle of Germantown. The reenactments haven’t happened since 2019, but the obligation remains, preserved in a 70-page legal document waiting for some future homeowner.

For a city preparing to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, this is a nice reminder that in Philadelphia, history isn’t always tucked away in museums. Sometimes it’s written into the paperwork.

There are plenty of ways Major League Baseball could have celebrated the All-Star Game coming to Philadelphia.

A logo, banners, a commemorative beer.

Instead, someone decided to create an apartment that appears to have been designed by the Phillie Phanatic after consuming several energy drinks, Philly Voice reported.

The result is a two-bedroom rental covered in green fur, baseball memorabilia, Phillies decor, and what can only be described as mascot maximalism. Two lucky fans can stay there for $19.78 a night and get tickets to All-Star festivities.

The obvious question is why this exists. The Philly answer is why wouldn’t it?

There’s a baseball glove chair, fuzzy green barstools, and a photo op with the Phanatic.

Every detail sounds made up, but they’re not! Which is amazing.

Philadelphians spend an awful lot of time explaining themselves. We feel underrated, maybe overlooked. And we’re not New York, D.C., or Boston.

A Chicago man posted a lengthy love letter to Philadelphia recently after a trip that included cheesesteaks, hoagies, roast pork, dive bars, the Barnes Foundation, Reading Terminal Market, Magic Gardens, and City Hall, which he declared his favorite building in America.

The review was so thorough that it started to feel like Visit Philadelphia had hired him.

But the most revealing part was that he kept comparing Philadelphia to Chicago.

Another city full of neighborhood pride, old bars, great sandwiches, beautiful architecture, and residents who spend half their time insisting everyone else overlooks them.

The commenters understood immediately. One called Philadelphia a mini New York. Another argued Chicago and Philadelphia people have more in common with each other than either would like to admit. They’re probably right.

But there’s no compliment Philadelphians love more than hearing someone came here expecting very little and left wondering why nobody told them how great it is.

Philadelphia has reached a level of cultural dominance where even our quarterback’s doppelgänger is getting reality TV opportunities.

A Drexel graduate entered the Love Island villa this week, and his main claim to fame isn’t being a former lacrosse player or nonprofit worker. It’s looking enough like Jalen Hurts that people have been stopping him for photos for years.

Honestly, that feels very Philadelphia. We don’t just have celebrities, we also have backup celebrities.

The funniest part is that nobody on the show seems to have noticed yet. Viewers back home immediately saw Jalen Hurts. The contestants on a tropical island in Fiji just saw a handsome guy in swim trunks. Give it time.

Philadelphia spent years planning America’s 250th birthday celebration. And somehow nobody thought to include the man who stole the Declaration of Independence.

Fortunately, Jenkintown stepped in.

This weekend’s Nicolas Cage-themed bar crawl features Cage cocktails, Cage trivia, Cage competitions, Cage masks, Cage movies, and what appears to be a community-wide commitment to a bit that has gotten completely out of hand.

The genius of Nicolas Cage is that nobody can quite agree whether he’s a great actor, a bizarre actor, or some third category that exists only for Nicolas Cage.

The same could be said for this event.

Jenkintown is hosting an evening built around a man whose filmography includes stealing national treasures, fighting John Travolta while wearing John Travolta’s face, and getting punched repeatedly in a wicker bear costume.

Frankly, if we’re celebrating America this year, Nicolas Cage probably deserves a seat at the table.