The 15 Unfriendliest Cities in America

Michaela Hall admits that people in Washington D.C. don’t always make a good first impression.

“We avoid making eye contact, we bump you without saying excuse me, and
 we wear earbuds to drown out any questions you might ask—because being 
polite takes time,” says the D.C.-based travel blogger. “Most of us
 are employed by government agencies, nonprofits, or some other entity set on 
saving the world,” she explains. “So in the morning, we are rushing to make a difference.”

Saving the world, we assume, isn’t always pretty: D.C. made the top 5 for its less-than-friendly locals. In the annual America’s Favorite Cities survey, Travel + Leisure readers ranked 38 cities for their most magnetic features, from bakeries to nightclubs to the locals, who might have impressed readers as being particularly good looking, quirky, or friendly…or, the opposite of those things. While cities like New Orleans and Minneapolis/St.Paul got accolades for rolling out the red carpet, 15 other cities, or at least their locals, didn’t seem to make that connection with readers. To be fair, the surliest cities also tend to be the biggest and most fast-paced, which may give visitors an air of indifference—whether it’s intentional or not.

Of course, finding a city’s friendly locals may just be a matter of knowing where—and when—to look.

At the end of a typical day, says Hall, the rushed and rude folks of D.C. are actually pretty happy to sit down and have a philosophical chat about their day’s work.
 “D.C. is full of nice people,” she says, “if you meet us during happy hour.”


sourced:travelandleisure.com