Friendliest states in the South (living, better, places, population)
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What states in the South are friendly in your opinion? By friendly I mean that it's considered normal to talk to strangers and relatively easy to make good friends.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Tennessee and Kentucky, and WV if you consider it southern.
Those three states harbor by far the nicest and most easy going cultures I personally experienced in the southern US.
Georgia (outside of the Atlanta area) was nice as long you weren't from the north. The people I met went from super warm to ice cold as soon as my NY roots came into conversation. It happened multiple times at unrelated places too. :/
Louisiana could be just as elitist and rude as it could friendly and warm but nothing in between. A culture of extremes.
Too much of Mississippi was very uncomfortable and to this day is the only state I've been to that felt legitimately unsafe and odd no matter how many times I visited (this is not based on stereotyping either as run down, struggling and rural does not bother me; I do not fear the Hollywood hillbilly in the woods. Something about a lot of Mississippi was truly... off).
Texas and Alabama were pretty average. Genuine but not too unlike much of the rest of the US.
I lived in West Virginia for 4 years and it was incredibly friendly. I chose it in the poll because its a predominantly rural state without many less friendly urban araes, except possibly parts of the Eastern Panhandle that have DC area transplants, though even these transplants are more laid back than the typical people from the DC area hence their decision to move to WV.
When you get into states like NC, Georgia, etc, I found the small towns to be very friendly but the cities much less so. I live in Louisiana outside Baton Rouge and people here drive very aggressively and aren't AS openly friendly and hospitable as West Virginia (people do seem to be busier and more in a hurry) though I'd still say this area is probably friendlier than the national average.
In WV nobody ever seems to be in a hurry and it seems to be considered acceptable to drive 5 or 10 miles below the speed limit.
As a Wyoming native who now lives in Georgia (and has lived in several other states listed) ~ I don't find any of them to be nearly as friendly as the Rockies region. I'm not sure I'd even go so far as to say that I've found anyplace east of the Mississippi river to be friendly at all... tolerant, yes, but not friendly. But that's a perspective thing.
You do get a little "fake friendly" where someone will force a smile and you can see in their eyes they are suffering through a conversation just to be polite. This is interesting where I am now as I don't advertise what local family I married into, so I will Frequently hear from relatives about someone talking nasty about me (almost all of my contact is with people who aren't doing their job/what they said they would so it tends to be negative confrontation).
I've successfully made 1 friend in my decade in the SE.... my wife, and she's as disgusted by this region as I am. Sadly, a feeling of obligation to her parents keeps us trapped here. Doesn't seem any better anywhere within several states radius either, we travel quite a bit to try and get away from the depressing area where our house is located (4 day weekend every weekend and a camper van). This is sticking almost exclusively to rural areas, no comment about southern cities which tend to be less "southern" in population and more of a mix from all over.
What role do you play in making only one friend in 10 years in the Southeast?
first 4 years? I was active in looking while living in Atlanta, but found the same problem I'd faced in DC ~ I'm not a city person and was stuck in a city with people who wanted to do city things. City people are different than country people, I made every effort to get Away from crowds and they made every effort to form larger crowds. I wanted to do for myself, they wanted to pay someone else to do for them.
Last 6 years, no effort made (but it's not like I'm running people off with a stick either). People in rural GA, at least the neck of the woods where my wife was raised, are far too hung up on the "who's yer kin" angle. If you're not of a family that's already had a positive relationship with the other family, there's a brick wall between the two. There's a Slight "in" for kids growing up while in school, but none for adults. I was born and raised to judge a person based on the words and actions of that specific individual, so I don't play well with these silly games. Then there's the whole issue with people around here have zero respect for their own words, they simply don't do what They, themselves, say they will do. This is true of city/elected officials, church pastors, contractors/business owners and on down.
I'd be shocked if there weren't people around me that I would be good friends with, but they have likely given up even trying in the same way I have.
It's easy to make friends. All you need is a common interest. It's not that difficult to find somebody with a common interest. There are lots of ways for adults from outside of one region of the United States to make friends with adults from another region of the United States. You behave in a respectful manner and treat people the way you would like to be treated, people will like you regardless of where you come from.
I've come to believe that most people have as many friends as they are willing to put forth the effort into being a friend. That's the key right there. Lot's of people don't have many friends because they don't put forth an honest effort into BEING a friend. In order to have a friend, you need to BE a friend, and that's what many adults tend to forget. It takes effort to be a good friend.
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