Springtime is redemptive in Philadelphia.

I'm not a big Philadelphia booster. The city has potential, but it's unlovely in many places. The people here, while rarely hostile, are not generally welcoming. And winter gets old, especially when it drags as it did this year.

But walking around this weekend, driving with the windows down, seeing the newly enlarged skyline through the newly-engreened trees, looking at the throngs stroll by the river, seeing young women in short skirts again... Philly can clean up all right come April.