Although I am not necessarily proud of it, my heritage is from Philadelphia. I am proud of my earnest attempt (over these 40+ years) to shake that tell-tale accent.
I no longer pronounce dog as if it was spelled 'dawg' or water as if it was spelled with two O's and a D.
What stil lingers, however, with the word OFTEN is the pronunciation of the 'T'.

I would like to elicit a vote from every one who reads this: When YOU say "often", can we hear the sound of the 'T'?

"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton