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Sun 27 Jun, 2004 05:35 pm
I am trying to find out the top 20 friendliest American cities?
Anyone out there have any recommendations? Thanks.
I doubt there are friendly american cities. There is probably lot of friendly american towns however
Not that cities are un-friendly, I just think they couldn't care less about you visiting
In no particular order:
I would vote for Nashville, TN, where Southern Hospitality is rampant.
Additionally, I liked San Diego. Everyone except the lady in the Panda area at the zoo was friendly.
And much to my surprise, I found New York City to be very, very, friendly. I was expecting something quite the opposite, but the people of Manhattan were, overall, really great!
This is not to say, however, that we didn't see drivers "flipping off" pedetrians, or that the old people in the grocery stores didn't push and shove. But overall, our experience was amazing.
E.g. When I stopped along several locations to snap photos of the storefronts, most pedestrians either stopped to wait, or they walked out of their way to pass behind me. This has happened no where else to the extent it did in NYC.
Also, we found local people to be very kind, and willing to help with giving directions, or answering our questions.
Once, a man in a business suit walked briskly by as I was taking a shot of my wife in front of a granite wall we liked. He stopped a second later, turned around and offered to take our photo together, which he did.
I ♥ NY!
oh yeah, Bahstin has to be in the top 10..... or is that bottom 10.....? Eh, who cares.
Lake City Colorado (unless you happen to be a democrat, Alfred Packer was convicted of eating every democrat in the county)
I found New York City quite friendly when I visited last year too.
Some cities are, of course, very large. A city like Los Angeles was famously, at least to los angelenos, a set of villages without a center. Neighborhoods may vary...
I have driven around the state of California countless times and tend to stop in different places to check things out. People are fairly casual and I see them as quite open to talking.
Portland, Maine.
Friendliest drivers in the world. They actually let you cross the street. I was in culture shock.
Wilmington, Delaware - they really are nice there/ agree re Portland, ME, too. And, hmm, Providence, RI is okay (drivers are a bit bad, but not as difficult as in Boston), and Charlotte, NC is another Southern hospitality-type of place but more cosmopolitan than most Southern cities.
According to travel and Leisure here they are:
1.Nashville 2. Honolulu 3. San Antonio 4. Austin 5. Twin Cities 6. New Orleans 7. Portland 8. San Juan 9. Santa Fe 10. Seattle 11. San Diego 12. Chicago 13. Houston 14. Orlando 15. Denver 16. Tampa/St. Petersburg 17. Las Vegas 18. Phoenix/Scottsdale 19. San Francisco 20. Philadelphia 21. Boston 22. New York 23. Miami 24. Washington, D.C. 25. Los Angeles
The article is great and there are lots of other interesting lists. See:
http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/results.cfm?cat=people#
We lived in Bismarck, North Dakota for a year (until my job evaporated). Without a doubt it was the friendliest place I've ever been.
Number One Son went to school in Saint Petersburg, Florida. It always struck me as being a pretty nice place too.
I'm from the Boston area.
F@#k you.
I couldn't believe it this weekend. I went to Maine, and people actually get out of the left lane on the highway when you get behind them. Only people that didn't had MA plates.
Las Vegas is number 3 in stylishness?
Hey - tackiness is a type of style.
Whoa, Boston was on the nice list?
They don't say whether it's Portland OR or ME.
GeneralTsao wrote:In no particular order:
I would vote for Nashville, TN, where Southern Hospitality is rampant.
I ♥ NY!
I did an art show in Nashville last year in Centennial Park and found the people very friendlly. I also like the people in Omaha and Wichita, KS. The west coast of Florida is more friendly than the East. Mid-Westerners tend to move to the west coast, while New Yorkers move to the Southeast Florida. I avoid doing shows in SE Florida when I am able.
I saw New York listed in a couple of those friendly lists.
jespah wrote:
And, hmm, Providence, RI is okay (drivers are a bit bad, but not as difficult as in Boston)
Providence is not ok.
people are very rude, traffic is horrendous, the drivers are terrible, you can never find a cab, restaurants are overcrowded and the waiters are haughty. It rains all the time, it's terribly cold in the Winter, taxes are astronomical, and you'll probably get mugged.
Stay away!