Where are the friendly people?
 

I am tired of all the unfriendly people here in Washington D.C., can't anyone smile or exchange pleasant conversation any more? <BR> <BR>I am interested in traveling or moving to the City-State with the most friendy people. People who smile, talk to stangers and are open to everyone. Is there such a place? <BR> <BR>Please tell me where you have lived or traveled where people are just plain nice and friendly. Thanks.

For larger cities that I've visited, my vote would go to Minneapolis. It is heavily populated by people who are ften transplants from the many friendly smaller towns in the Upper Midwest. It lacks the competitive atmosphere of a city like Chicago. (I'm not picking on Chicago -- it's just a street-level observation on the day-to-day, big-city "feel" and I can feel the difference as soon as I hit the suburban freeways). Most reliable place to go to meet friendly people almost anywhere? Canada always impressed me with that quality and I've noted it from the western provinces to the Maritimes.

Wisconsin. I'm from Chicago and every time I go to Wisconsin I'm amazed at how friendly everyone is. Milwaukee is a great city. One of America's best kept secrets. I may not live there, but I was smart enough to import my wife from there.

Hello Jim Rosenberg, <BR> On behalf of all Canadians, thanks for the, not always deserved, compliment. <BR>A.M.

I relocated to New Orleans ten years ago and find it extremely friendly with many great NEIGHBORHOODS. It's nice to chat with people who are sitting on their front porches...

It may be coincidence, but I've met the friendliest people in places where it doesn't snow in the winter time: San Francisco, Honolulu, New Orleans. (High five, John!) <BR> <BR>When a friend from the D.C. area came to visit me in California, she was amazed that the store clerk asked where she was from and chatted about the weather. <BR>"The store clerks at home don't talk to you?" I asked. <BR>"Well, yeah, but only to say, 'That'll be $3.56, please.' " she said. <BR>I guess I'm so used to the friendliness here that I take it for granted.

I agree with all of the posts so far as places where people are extremely friendly (especially the Canadians - like Dan, I've "imported" my boyfriend from there. . .). <BR> <BR>I do think people are pretty friendly here in Seattle. People don't honk on the streets (very impolite), they wait at 4-way stops, and they'll talk with you in restaurants, coffee shops, etc.

I'm always amazed at how friendly and considerate people are in Colorado.

I think some of the friendliest people I've met are here on the Fodors board!

Southern California is actually one of the friendliest places that I've ever lived. Friends and family who come to visit me are always surprised at how you can get into a conversation with store clerks and waiters without any effort. I guess we all are happy to be out here in the sunshine and it just comes through in everyone's attitudes.

I have met friendly people and rude people from all over the U.S. However, it seems that those who live in areas where there are many people who are not "native" to the region, tend to be friendlier.

Hey, Leilani, I'm from a place where we have snow some years from October til May. I consider the people around here to be pretty darn friendly. We all have the shoveling, snowdays, boots, hats, scarves & mittens in common. Guess all these things warm the heart. Canadians get lots of snow too, you know. (I love you guys) Carolyn, from upstate New York, way, way upstate I might add. <BR>

People in cities are usual too wary or too occupied to be friendly, but a good measure of a cities friendliness is to ride the public transit. Of all the cities Ive lived in Philadelphia has the friendliest transit riders. Los Angeles the worst.

I just had to relpy...Please do not judge the people of the city of Los Angeles by the character of those who ride the "public transit" here....if you have ever been here, there is no public transportation to speak of!! Not that LA should win the "most friendly" award...in my dealings with Chicago (granted...I have only visited on beautiful fall days...no humidity and no snow!), it should win for friendliest BIG city. I just can't leave the beaches and weather here :) <BR> <BR>Just had to stick up for my fellow Angelenos :)

Lara...Sorry to say but L.A has the biggest public transit system in the nation. I lived there for over 10 years and took the bus and later the subway everyday. Im just saying I never witnessed the amount of friendliness; politeness and saneness there that I have in Philly. I should also say that the friendliness in L.A is a necessity. You never know if the person you are talking to can get you in the movies.

Biggest transporation?????? my goodness-where did you live that you could actually take a subway??? Must be that one line from hollywood to downtown that has been open for all of a couple of years, and that is losing money everyday because it is unused?? Seriously, I am interested, because LA has such a traffic problem because there is no efficient way to get from anywhere that I would like to go :) And I'm not new to LA...I've lived here my whole life. And i would definitely agree with you about those who actually do ride the public transportation...the one time I did venture out onto the MTA and Big Blue Bus, I vowed never to ride them again....there were freaky people everywhere!! <BR> <BR>I have been to many big cities with MUCH better transportation than LA...San Francisco is great (with friendly people, I might add), chicago, NY, Seattle.... <BR> <BR>Have a lovely day :)

I think Sydney wins by far the friendliest contest.

Neither CANADA nor SYDNEY is a state...yet. <BR> But that's a whole other topic, eh?

Hey, Bruce, if I see you on Metro, I'll smile at you. I'm often amazed when folks bash an entire metropolitan area as being unfriendly, lawless, arrogant ... you name it ... and surprisingly, or perhaps not so, it's often DC these days that gets the gig. I recall it used to be NYC and Paris, now it's little ole DC ... we're in the bigtime. Hey, Bruce, are you smiling yet? Try it ... I just bet it comes back to you in radiant smiles. Hey, it's easier than moving ... and cheaper too, because they're going to charge you for shipping that heavy outlook. Try to smile ... I just imagine your friendly meter is about to expire, and needs change. Ciao

How about Atlanta? That town has absolutely nothing going for itself so they're REAL friendly. They'll be more than happy to tell you how they have the tallest hotel, the busiest airport, the 3rd most traffic, the 5th most this, the 8th most that, etc. etc. They'll also brag about the Braves, the Buffalo Bills of baseball.

Hey Bruce. I think the response from Jim Rosenberg was right on the money. I'm always impressed by the politeness and friendliness of folks in the two Canadian cities I've spend much time in: Toronto and Edmonton. Ditto, for Minneapolis, which is basically in Canada, anyway, isn't it? One I'd like to add is Atlanta. I go there a lot on business and am always treated well. I've lived in DC for four years now, and have to agree with your assessment. I moved here for the career opportunities, and the cosmopolitan environment for rearing my young children, but there really seems to be very little sense of community here, even compared to other large cities where I've lived (e.g. Boston and New Orleans). It's a very transient place, and a very competitive place, full of Type A personalities. Good luck!

I find myself agreeing with Leone again! Wherever I go people smile and say hello to me. It just may be that I am usually the first to do this. I never meet someone's eyes in passing without at least smiling if not saying hello. Try it and you'll see how much friendlier people seem to be.

My opinions are based on where I've lived, not where I've traveled because I think while on vacation I'm extra freiendly and outgoing myself, so my judgement might be clouded to the friendliness of others. ;-) <BR> <BR>That being said, and although I hate to make generalizations, the people in the smaller towns (populations of 15,000 and below) I've lived in have seemed to be friendlier to me than those in larger cities. Maybe it's because I've seen the grocery clerk on a regular basis, or the bank teller knew me by name, etc., but to me small town people are more friendly and genuinely concerned with each other. <BR>

P.S. - To specifically answer your question, Bruce, those friendly towns I lived in are Cheboygan and Escanaba, MI and Arcata, CA. I must say, though, the culture shock you would get moving to any of those after living in D.C. would knock your socks off! ;-)

And I with Curious. Sometimes I've tended to forget what a smile will do ... just some straight eye contact, soft voice and a small smile, held. And you can wait for it to be reciprocated. Inner feelings leak, good or bad, and are returned. To brand one place unfriendly, well, start your assessment inside, and odds are you'll need go no further ... and certainly not out of the area. DC or Atlanta, unfriendly, nothing happening? Really? Have a nice journey. Ciao <BR> <BR>PS. To Willy B: you understand the origins of the name you've chosen? No, not the deceased gorilla in your zoo, but back 45-50 years earlier, including the airport. Clue in the folks, why don't you!

Interesting coincidence that you should post this question now...I grew up in NY and found many to be aggressive and rude (using professionals, cashiers and retailers as a basis of comparison). Moved to LA and found generally people were more friendly but superficial. Moved to N. VA just outside DC and have thought people to be generally pleasant. Just this weekend I went to Norfolk for the first time and was amazed at how completely friendly so many people were, from the police officers, bus drivers and chefs to the people we saw on the street who asked if we needed help finding a place. Amazing how the attitude changes the further you get from the big cities.

Willy B the gorilla is/was named for William B. Hartsfield, the former mayor of Atlanta, the man responsible for, among other things, the airport, Cyclorama and the Atlanta Zoo, or as those backward Atlantans call it Zoo Atlanta.

Well, Willy, half right anyway. The old airport, probably gone before you arrived, if you're there. The Cyclorama ... you might want to recheck it. Regardless, sounds like you're a bit hostile toward the Phoenix ... has the traffic got you down? Possibly you lack that real, living sense of where Atlanta came from ... you didn't experience it several decades ago ... a city too busy to hate ... and don't think that trite until you've walked and watched the hoses, dogs and prods deter people in other towns from walking in their own streets for a deep cause. Ciao

The friendliest people I've found yet are out in West Texas. I guess everyone there is friendly because there aren't many people there, so they are just nice to everyone.

Nope. Haven't lived in the big Phoenix for quite some time, although I still go back there to visit friends every now and then. 'The City Too Busy To Hate' is a P.R. slogan, no? If that were really the case people wouldn't tell me that MARTA stands for "Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta".

Well, Willy ... I don't communicate with racists. I don't even give them a "ciao" ... but I do wish them a FY.

The South..hands down is the friendliest place on Earth.....even in the bigger towns....go to KY, TN, AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, NC, SC for some of the best people on the planet. <BR> <BR>Chris is in KY

L, there's not a racist bone in my body, not the case apparently in the city too busy to hate.

Willy, bad vibes there, guy ... but don't forget to pick up your own personalized FY. Unlike Atlanta, looks like you're not too busy.

Was recently in San Diego - aka Eden & Paradise...everyone we encountered was great - must be the exquisite weather. I notice that the maybe 2 weeks a year it's "perfect weather" here in Houston everyone's in a great mood!

OOOOO Mia so true about SD. Was visiting my sister when she had access to many cars in poor working order. Wherever we went we'd need a push into a parking spot or out of a parking spot or over to the side of the road. EVERYBODY helped. Nobdy was ever asked, they all just jump out of their cars and give you assistance and then wave good bye. The police helped too. No admonishing on the sad state of the car either. Most places you get the middle finger salute for slowing down the traffic.

Sorry Windowseat for your experience here in Los Angeles. The people who ride the public transit here (mostly buses) are usually poorly paid immigrants who speak very little English. They are hard working and work long hours, they most likely are just too tired to smile and try to carry on conversations with strangers. They communicate fine with each other though, and if you came to know one I am sure you would find him/her pleasant, on the norm. The more middle/upper class people here very rarely take buses, they are each in a private car and there is one "major" subway line. <BR>I also find that the more a store pays their workers the friendlier they may be. Unless you go to a really upscale shop, they may assume attitudes towards you the customer.

Oh, Bruce, paradise awaits. Buy some change of address cards, pack up your things and move to Charlotte, NC. This is the prettiest and friendliest city you'll ever encounter. You'll love it here.

I just returned from a trip to NYC and my daughter and I couldn't get over how friendly everyone was that we encountered. We rode the subways, and so many people helped us out (probably because we looked so clueless with our map). People didn't necessarily come up and start up a conversation, but whenever we struck up a conversation or asked a question, everyone we met was helpful and friendly. It was a very pleasant surprise.

Having lived in the Northeastern U.S. my entire life & traveled the U.S.& Canada quite extensively,I've found people to be the friendliest in Canada, then in the U.S. it would be the Far West,Southwest, New England, & the South. I find people in the Northeast to be the hardest to socialize with & someday I'll be OUTTA HERE!!!