Archive: Opinions

The end of summer is nearing, and everyone seems to be grabbing vacation time before the leaves and temperatures begin to fall.  Anticipating an upcoming drive south to visit family, I can't help thinking about how friendly it is down there.  I like long driving trips, and in recent years have come to appreciate taking them in the south.

Like Anglophiles who think an English accent makes a speaker sound sophisticated and intelligent, southern accents strike me as genuinely friendly and welcoming.  Evidently respondents to the Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Survey agree: eight out of the top ten U.S. Friendliest Cities are in the South.  Of the ten Least Friendly Cities, only one is in the south.

I particularly like eating in restaurants in the south.  The waiters and waitresses seem genuinely glad you are there, and very attentive.  As a cynical Yankee I couldn't believe it wasn't put on, at first.  But I have come to enjoy it, because, even if they are faking it, they sure know how to sell it!

Admittedly, our Town of Lansing is confused.  There is an area of the town north of the Village of Lansing, but south of South Lansing.  I am not sure what officially makes up the East Lansing border, and I am not aware of an area called West Lansing.  I actually live in a place that is north of South Lansing, but south of North Lansing (and I think west of East Lansing, unless we are in East lansing, which I don't think we are).  In general people in town have been friendly to me whether I am in North Lansing or South Lansing or one of the limbo areas of town.

Ah lahk to tell folks that ah used to live in South Lansin', but when I moved a few mahls noarth ah lost mah accint.  And as a proper Bostonian by birth, I can tell you that the friendly south paradigm isn't universal: South Boston is not known for friendliness.  But for some reason states genuinely below the Mason Dixon line do, in general, seem friendlier.

But there is something about that real southern hospitality that makes you feel warm and welcome.  So how do the cities stack up?  The friendliest are Charleston, SC; Savannah, GA; San Antonio, TX; Telluride, CO; New Orleans, LA; Fort Worth, TX, Jackson, WY, Key West, FL, Nashville, TN; and Asheville, NC.

I've been to a few of these cities and they did seem friendly.  Especially a man who stopped to help me change a tire on the way to New Orleans and refused any payment whatsoever, even though I was a young Yankee driving a Datsun!  At least three others are on my bucket list to visit, and the survey makes me eager to get to it (though, alas, not on this trip).

If you are looking for somewhere not to go, or if you are in a really bad mood and want to stay that way, the top ten least friendly cities are Newark, NJ; Oakland, CA; Hartford, CT; Atlantic City, NJ; New Haven, CT; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; The Hamptons, NY; Wilmington, DE; and Miami, FL.

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