It's one of my favorite shows, along with the Office, and along with the Office I've never watched the last ~2 seasons or w/e (or with the office the last ~3 or 4 seasons). I always drop off around the same point when rewatching it. Parks & Rec is the right amount of silly, guffaw laughs, but also heart warming. Most of the characters are really well done by about the 4th episode, and they mature into their own and stay consistent. Andy's always dumb. Jerry is always sincere and dedicated. Compared to Kevin in the Office who becomes *so dumb* by season 5 or something that he doesn't even know the alphabet, can't tie his shoes, eats glue, basically becomes Ralph Wiggins from the Simpsons except we're supposed to believe that this is also a guy who was a poker shark and had a stable relationship and is in a pretty good Police cover band?
My criticism of early seasons of Parks & Rec is mostly around Mark Brandanowicz and Ann Perkins. They're both intensely unlikeable, and their relationship grates on me, all of their interactions are like Karen and Jim on the Office which is just intensely unlikeable ... imagine being in a serious relationship with someone where all you do is shit on each other with unfunny dry humor. Mark and Ann have the same relationship. I actually like Ann when Rob Lowe comes in because her character plays so well off of Rob Lowe. The only good think about Mark and Ann is the sub-plot with Andy, as it gives some of the best lines in those early seasons ("Y'know... I get that legally now Ann is mine ... but... for some strange reason it doesn't feel that way..." or w/e it is. Or the line about not carrying those condoms he ordered, not just the small size but the strange shape).
But, your criticism of the town of Pawnee as sexist, racist, ageist, or whatever, that's the joke. Like... that's what creates the faux drama in the show. The "Leslie marries penguins" episode... that's the joke... nobody should care about two penguins being fake married ... but the local nutjobs come out of the woodwork to try to force her resignation, while the local gay scene makes her into a hero. Nobody should care about it, LEslie should be neither hero nor villain. It's a comedy, it's silly.
It's like watching The Good Place and thinking it's not good because there's no scientific proof of the after-life.