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[DragoonKain]

Some states/regions/countries have a reputation for being nasty and bitter and some have a reputation for being very kind, welcoming, and peaceful.

For example, in the US, places in the northeastern corridor like NYC, Philly, Boston, Jersey have a reputation for being abrasive and of course the south has the cliche of "southern hospitality."

Countries like Japan have a reputation for being super peaceful and friendly, and some Eastern European nations... not so much.

Do you think this is a legit thing and certain regions of the world are nicer than others or is it just a coincidence that the people who started and carry on these reputations happened to come across the wrong people at the wrong time and get an inaccurate impression?

I think it's legitimate personally. I've been to various places where the general mood and hospitality definitely feels different. Is it more culture driven? Do you think it's as simple as kids being raised to be friendly and polite, and those kids growing up and passing the same values on to their kids? And then other areas kids are taught they gotta be tough to survive in this world so they grow up with an attitude?

It's one of the things that attracts me to the idea of traveling. Going to another region where people are super warm and hospitable all the time must be welcoming feeling.

Anyone on here a big traveler who can give good insight on this?

 

[triplestation]

i always had a feeling canada is very friendly and left wing in a sane way

 

[TaySan]

I think a lot of it has to with Urban/Rural in any state/country really. Nobody in PHX wants to have anything to do with me while in Nebraska random strangers will say hello and greet me. I experienced this across the states.

 

[highrider]

Countries like Japan have a reputation for being super peaceful and friendly

I would say my grandparents would dispute this.

As to the op, the less people the better, doesn’t matter where. My dad retired in St. Michaels on The Eastern Shore. Pretty perfect if I could find something like that warm year around.

 

[Ememee]

The one memory I think of is when I drove across the country from LA to Wisconsin for an Ex. I’ve lived in SoCal most of my life and was really taken aback by how nice, cordial and sociable most people in Wisconsin were. I remember I went to some mall and this black guy was running a booth where people could go in and sing and he’d put it on a CD (this was 11 years ago). So my gf at the time is in there is singing at the time and me and the guy start shooting the shit and I let him I know I’m from LA and he tells me he used to live there too. He asks me how I like it and I reply “It’s kind of weird walking around, everyone ..” and he interrupts me, finishing my thought “..Makes eye contact with you”. And I was like “Yes!”. We bonded for a good ten minutes at both being thrown off from how friendly people in Wisconsin were compared to LA.

so yeah. People in different regions, countries, it’s always different, in my experience. Some better than others.

 

[lock2k]

Absolutely. People in NYC were super rude both times I've been there.

The first time I was 13 and one of those horse riding guys on Central Park said "fuck you" to me after we refused to take the ride. I wasn't even fluent at the time but it left me a bad impression. I was a child, goddammit.

Second time 20 years later my father asked for directions to this ghetto Danny Trejo looking motherfucker on the Subway and he started cursing our entire family.
NYC is a very interesting city full of rude imbeciles.

Mexico City treated me and my wife like family all the time. Man, what a great people. They loved to start random conversations with us. I love my Mexican bros. All Londoners who talked to us were really classy people as well.

 

[nush]

People in NYC were super rude both times I've been there.

Some were, but some were overly friendly and positive and that I did like. I'm white, I'm guessing you're not.

my father asked for directions to this ghetto Danny Trejo looking motherfucker on the Subway

 

[Papa]

If you could come up with indices for "cultural homogeneity" and "hospitality", I think the R² would be pretty close to 1.

 

[Stiflers Mom]

I noticed a huge difference between people in Tokyo and those in Osaka, when I lived in Japan twenty years ago.
In Tokyo everybody would mind their own business, while in Osaka people always tried to talk to you.

 

[Flying Toaster]

I think a lot of it has to with Urban/Rural in any state/country really. Nobody in PHX wants to have anything to do with me while in Nebraska random strangers will say hello and greet me. I experienced this across the states.

How are you approaching people? Phoenix is a busy place but I have never found anyone rude. Honestly most of where I have been in the US have been nice but the slower laid back places will always take the time to sit down and have a conversation if you are willing.

 

[Dontero]

Yeah i mean different countries have different cultures.
Good example of that is UK and Poland.

In UK everyone plays fake game. If they say "It would be nice if you could come by" they don't actually mean it, it is just their way of talking or saying "meh don't bother"
In Poland if someone says that you should come by it means they actually mean it.

On other hand in UK no one will say to you in face they don't like you or don't like what you do. They will go about it.
In Poland they will outright say in your face that something is wrong with you.

 

[PanzerAzel]

I grew up and lived on Maui for about 25+ years. Two years ago I moved to PA. There’s a noticeable difference, to put it lightly. Hawaii, in general, is very friendly and hospitable (though there definitely exists an underlying resentment and hostility towards whites at times, depending where you go on island, but 99% are chill), but the mainland is an entirely different beast altogether.

I don’t think people here in PA are necessarily rude, they just mind their own business much more and are far less laid back and more formal. The place is so massive and open that people really don’t need to care, they can disappear in a mass populace. There’s no sense of Ohana (family) here. In Hawaii, it’s a very small world, so it’s in everyone’s best interest to spread aloha. If you know five people, it’s like you have connections to half the island so the geography kind of enforces a sense of amicability, relation and goodwill. Plus word gets around, it does you no benefit to be an ass. And if you go to the islands and throw attitude around....it’s just a bad idea. There’s very little tolerance for it.

It’s one aspect I miss about the islands, but there’s benefits to not be there as well, so...

 

[TaySan]

How are you approaching people? Phoenix is a busy place but I have never found anyone rude. Honestly most of where I have been in the US have been nice but the slower laid back places will always take the time to sit down and have a conversation if you are willing.

Im pretty inoffensive and try to be friendly, but everyone here wants to keep to their own business. I haven't even met any of my neighbors here yet after living here over a year versus making friends with the entire block in Nebraska.

Everyone here is kinda on the edge and have no patience with you. It was a culture shock after living in the midwest for so long

 

[lock2k]

Some were, but some were overly friendly and positive and that I did like. I'm white, I'm guessing you're not.

I am white as well. Italian+Portuguese. Everyone thought we were French in the U.S. and Canada. Some thought we were Americans but lost their patience the moment they noticed we had bad English (at the second time I was fluent for two decades already, but at the first time I was just a kid who didn't know much).

I still love NYC, but the people there always seem to be with a cock up the ass.

 

[triplestation]

I am white as well. Italian+Portuguese. Everyone thought we were French in the U.S. and Canada. Some thought we were Americans but lost their patience the moment they noticed we had bad English (at the second time I was fluent for two decades already, but at the first time I was just a kid who didn't know much).

I still love NYC, but the people there always seem to be with a cock up the ass.

manhattan people are crazy by default

come to queens, its chill

 

[lock2k]

manhattan people are crazy by default

come to queens, its chill

I did, and I forgot to tell, it really was

I was generalizing saying New York but I was really meaning Manhattan.

 

[womfalcs3]

If you could come up with indices for "cultural homogeneity" and "hospitality", I think the R² would be pretty close to 1.

Spurious correlation.

Kidding

 

[StormCell]

Having grown up in the south and lived in the Pacific Northwest before eventually returning to the south, I've got mixed feelings. I met a lot of very friendly people in high school living outside of Seattle. At the same time, your experiences are going to vary greatly depending on whom you approach and what part of town you're in (duh!). I spent by far a majority of my time in the NW living in the Spokane area, and there are a lot of very friendly and chatty people. Mostly very sincere. There are some bad people there, too, of course--I've been flipped off for nothing more than incidental eye contact (shrug).

Since returning to the south, the most striking difference to me is how pleasant people are during interactions. If I hadn't grown up down here, I would be totally fooled into thinking everyone loves me to death. Oh I wish!

 

[EverydayBeast]

Cities are different sure but they network with one another from a tourist lens yes.

 

[belmarduk]

Holy shit, people in Michigan are rude and hateful. I've been to most states and never experienced anything quite like it. Unfortunately, a lot of Michiganders have come down here to Florida and taken their antisocial habits with them.

 

[J-Roderton]

Nah. Assholes everywhere.

 

[Super Mario]

Tough to say. Different cultures, different opinions, different experiences.

If I had to play, I'd say something really stuck out to me about the Florida Keys. Not that everyone is somehow a much nicer person, but there just seems to be a much more calming atmosphere. No one is stressed out down there. No one is looking to argue or pick a fight. People seem to love life down there, and it really shows.

 

[zeorhymer]

Fast paced mega cities vs the laid back countryside. San Diego was hang ten land until all the pharma and tech companies came through. Now it feels like a mini Silicon Valley. I'd love to retire in Utah or someplace like that.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

I've felt nothing but welcome both times I was in Japan. They're the best hosts.

 

[Moogle11]

I prefer city life honestly. Don't much care for people as an introvert/misanthrope so I prefer the anonymity vs. all "niceness" (i.e. the forced small talk etc.) in smaller towns and rural areas like where I grew up.

In terms of assholes, those are everywhere. Just the more people you have to interact with, the more you will encounter so you'll deal with them more in densely populated areas if you have to interact with strangers, customers etc. regularly as it's just more people and thus more assholes.

 

[Andrew Korenchkin]

Holy shit, people in Michigan are rude and hateful. I've been to most states and never experienced anything quite like it. Unfortunately, a lot of Michiganders have come down here to Florida and taken their antisocial habits with them.

Fuck Michigan.

 

[Papa]

Spurious correlation.

Kidding

ackshually an R² of 1 would mean it’s a perfect correlation

 

[Tesseract]

convention and commodification, people in cities are disconnected from reality

i'm not complaining, i'd like to conquer the sprawl eventually, but that environment isn't good for your soul

 

[JordanN]

Yeah.

 

[Sejan]

I’ve lived in a rural area for most of my life. I visited a large city and happened to hold the door open for my family as well a random guy behind us (as I’ve done my entire life). The look of utter amazement on that guy’s face was something I couldn’t believe. I don’t think a stranger had ever held the door for him before.

We hold doors open for stranger and wave at oncoming traffic in town. We say please and thank you as well as yes ma’am and no sir. We see these things as polite and even expected. That visit to that city was a bit of culture shock. People didn’t seem to have any concern for those around them. They weren’t necessarily rude, butit felt like a less caring place.

Just to mention it, I live close to a big city and that city feels much more compassionate than the one I visited in this story.

 

[belmarduk]

Fuck Michigan.

Yeah, it’s one of the few states which seems to have no redeeming qualities to it.

Even Mississippi has good food at least.

 

[eot]

Do you think this is a legit thing and certain regions of the world are nicer than others or is it just a coincidence that the people who started and carry on these reputations happened to come across the wrong people at the wrong time and get an inaccurate impression?

Some places of the world are definitely nicer than others, without a doubt. Culture is one aspect of it, however in fairness culture is a bit relative (though still tremendously important in how you actually experience others to be). Environment is a bit more absolute, for example people in large cities tend to be busier and with so many people around you simply have to learn to ignore them to get by. Naturally, this causes people to be less friendly to strangers. Of course, the reverse isn't always true, people who live in small communities can become hostile towards outsiders as a result of being protective of their community, something that doesn't really happen in big cities.

Anyway, I've travelled a fair bit and there are some places I could see myself living, plenty more where I couldn't and some places I have no desire to ever return to. The people you meet certainly play a role in that.

 

[Punished Miku]

I thought people in Japan were way nicer. Just small things. There was a big language barrier so I probably missed most of it.

 

[teezzy]

Yeah, it’s one of the few states which seems to have no redeeming qualities to it.

I love it here, personally

 

[SpiceRacz]

Im pretty inoffensive and try to be friendly, but everyone here wants to keep to their own business. I haven't even met any of my neighbors here yet after living here over a year versus making friends with the entire block in Nebraska.

Everyone here is kinda on the edge and have no patience with you. It was a culture shock after living in the midwest for so long

I've found the majority of people here to be considerate and friendly. You have to also keep in mind, Phoenix is very spread out. People travel 20 or 30+ miles to work through stop and go traffic. A lot of us are in a hurry and just trying to move on with our day.

 

[ScarletSpider]

.

 

[Andrew Korenchkin]

I've found the majority of people here to be considerate and friendly. You have to also keep in mind, Phoenix is very spread out. People travel 20 or 30+ miles to work through stop and go traffic. A lot of us are in a hurry and just trying to move on with our day.

The Southwest in general is just filled with more introverted people, at least in my experience. I go to other places and I'm just kind of taken aback when people want to be friendly and get to know me. At this point I just like being able to have a nice impersonal chat, and then get along with my day.

 

[poppabk]

I remember being in downtown Atlanta in the middle of the day and a stranger said hello to me as we passed each other crossing the street. I was dumbfounded.
Still on the front page is a story about a nice Georgia gentleman that was willing to overlook someones disability (she was totalpolegic) and show her a good time.