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Never lived in California but this is true for pretty much everyone I know from California who lives in Boston. California has better weather, mountains, better Mexican food, is more relaxed and diverse, new Englanders are just cold people and the weather is terrible and it pretty much sucks in every way compared to California. Apparently. Still haven't figured out why they came to Boston though. Oh yeah that's right: education and job prospects, ya know, the most fundamental things you need in life that make all else possible.
California will implode soon enough. I'll tolerate these people in the mean time.
Americans are people who couldn't live by the dominant culture of their old countries. Californians are people who couldn't live by the dominant culture of their old American states.
I grew up in the Chicago area (mostly the northern suburbs), but also undergrad in the city, etc.
I live in the Detroit suburbs now. IMO the people are friendlier in the Metro Detroit area than they are in Chicagoland. Chicago is definitely cliquier than Metro Detroit overall. It's tougher to break into long-standing pre-established groups sometimes in Chicago unless you live in a pure transplant neighborhood in the city.
Also the population density, sheer hustle / bustle creates more tension in Chicago in some ways. Women always have their guard raised way higher in Chicago compared to the Detroit area. Chicago is the NYC of the Midwest. Detroit isn't.
Both areas have a surprising amount of cultural diversity (yes, Detroit suburbs are actually diverse people). The biggest difference in this diversity is that Chicagoland has a much higher percentage of Hispanics (Mexican primarily with a sizable percentage of Puerto Ricans).
Totally agree it depends on where you are. I'm from Tennessee and lived in Iowa for a year after college. The people I worked with at a prestigious local employer were horrible, but people on the street were a lot nicer and more approachable. I still didn't think they were anywhere near as friendly as people in the South.
I live in Indiana now and most of the people I've met from/around Indianapolis aren't friendly at all. In fact, many are downright aggressive. Drive on any major roadway here, and it's constant blowing of horns, cutting others off, etc. Customer service/wait staff are downright surly and brusque.
Once you get out into small town Indiana, people are far, far friendlier, especially going toward Kentucky.
They're not friendly....just on the surface....
Very uncultured and lack a progressive international mindset.
Midwestern people are the fakest you'll ever meet.
Yes friendly but it's an external form of happiness and friendliness....
Southerners have a genuine friendliness that stems from within....
Very gossipy...
Very nosy....
*Smile in your face but throws you under the bus* types...
Too chatty....but it's never a genuine kind of chatty-ness.....it mostly blabber and phishing for information kind of chatter....
They have this "us vs them" mentality....meaning, if you're a transplant you'd be made to feel like an outsider because they'll never be genuine with you...and every discussion you have with them will feel like you're on a job interview. They always aim to know your social security number then knowing you as a person.....Every convo with them feels like they're phishing for sensitive information to stock up on ammunition WHICH might be later used against you.....
Everyone stares from the corner of their eye here....like C.I.A agents...like they're constantly paranoid....like they're constantly calculating eachother and reading physical details to find out clues without getting to know you.....and they actually think they are good at it.....that's the irony of it all........Another thing they do which I just find completely idiotic is LOOKING AT YOU LIKE SHEEP AS YOU DRIVE.....and as you drive past, they will turn they're heads to catch a better glimpse of you.....lol.....and it's a hypnotized look....very strange......
Also, I find racism here to be more covert and behind closed doors....it's a very calculated kind of racism.....the advanced form.......Segregation galore.....The midwest racial dynamics are much worse than I've seen in any region....
I think it's far more harder to succeed in the midwest than any other region.....especially if you are a transplant.....Doesn't matter how great of a person you are and how hard you work, they midwestern mindset will impede your success.....Class stratification tensions are deep here.....Unlike on the coasts where people freely enjoy their wealth and success, I feel like Midwestern upper classes try very hard to not show any signs of wealth......and I get the feeling that they're scared or not allowed to do so culturally....and I don't blame them...I wouldn't let a single midwestern soul know I was a multi millionaire either if I was.....They keep an extremely low profile here but you can sense it's not by choice.....It's fueled by paranoia and the extreme need to not be treated badly....Midwestern people are decent to you if they feel you're in the same class with them.....MIDDLE CLASS....any indications that you might be higher or lower directly affects how you will treated, C.I.A gazes, and the fakeness intensification.
BUT I WILL SAY....the nicest midwesterners I've met were Wisconsinites.....they're fake friendly too but they're far more genuine compared to the rest ....far more genuine than other midwesterners.....and none of the ones I've met NEVER come off as naive or stupid....
West Coast types are actually very nice people but deeply submerged in their careers, image, and "making it"....but if you're genuine, they're reveal their true self to you....West Coast types come off as fake but I honestly feel that is a defense mechanism....They're honestly nice people that are more concerned with who they are and how they feel than what you think of them....but if they see value in you, your opinion will matter to them...
East Coast types are probably the most HONEST with a "tell it like it is" approach which I deeply appreciate....they won't bull**** you....or toy with your emotions.....They're also very good at sniffing bull****....They won't go out of their way to make you feel at home....but they will welcome you if you intend on making they're region your home.....Very straight forward....they won't smile in your face and throw you under the bus behind your back....They'll do the **** talking to your face and if you don't like it, you can pack your bags and leave.....No "sugar-coatation".....very raw....no condom...no memory foam.....no Dr. Scholls......
D.C/MARYLAND region are very much into EDUCATION, SOCIAL CLASS, OLD CONTACTS, CONNECTIONS......and they're not too friendly but it's not a mean form of unfriendliness..I personally find D.C/DMV unfriendliness to be much better than Midwestern Nice because atleast YOU KNOW WHERE YOU STAND to re-adjust yourself...It's more of a "have your ducks and geese in order" before we can have a friendship.....and if you don't have your hens laying any eggs, you should focus on solving that problem instead of smiling in my face.....No one bothers anyone here....Simple and reasonable...It's a great place to attend school and build a reputation for yourself..You'll be challenged here....and nobody here cares about your benz or bmw or your promotion....those are not celebratory....nobody cares.....highly educated people in this region with old money and connections....nobody cares about your Lamborghini......but they will care VERY MUCH about which ivy league you attended and your resume......they won't dive into your business if they're not doing business with you...lol....and you will feel very out of place if you don't have a master's degree....a bachelor's degree here is like a highschool diploma here....
But Midwestern people are not genuinely friendly like southerners.....and they try to mimick the "southern hospitality" way but it's never from within...it's not from the soul....it's not from the heart....It's a cover up and a mask....and an exaggerated form of happiness.....and their eyes never match their emotions.....All you have to do is pay attention to their eyes and you will see that they're friendliness is not real....a lot of evil behind those eyes....
I've lived in the Midwest for 15 years in addition to spending extended periods of time in other regions...
I've been to and lived in a number of different parts of the country, and I've come to the conclusion that people are more or less the same everywhere. Midwesterners and Southerners aren't necessarily any more friendly than those in the Northeast or West, and those in the Northeast and West aren't necessarily any more jaded, reserved, or "busy" than those in the Midwest or South.
Most folks tend to mind their own business, extend a helping hand as long as there is a genuine need for it, and are more polite than friendly to strangers or those they're not all that familiar with, and gradually open up when they know each other better. Basically it's human nature rather than a regional characteristic.
Generally Midwesterners are friendly and down to earth. That being said, when I was in college, I ran into a lot of lousy people from Minneapolis, most of whom were trustifarians. Others I've run into from Minneapolis are great. Give me a Midwesterner over someone from out west (where I grew up) any day. There are some great people there, but a lot of paranoia, inbred clannish mentality, and too much extreme conservatism for my taste.
I find most people in the Midwest to be very nice and polite, but not overly friendly. They're not gonna be unfriendly, but they don't have a whole lot to say to a stranger standing in a grocery line. But if they see you have only a few items in your grocery cart and they have a cart full of groceries, chances are good they will invite you to go ahead of them in line.
Outside the big cities, Midwesterners are the most honest people of all the nations region's. I think a person is less likely to get ripped off in the Midwest than any other region.
No area is friendly every place has a******. If you think one place is more friendly you are lying to yourself.
I disagree. Everywhere has *******s but some places have an over abundance of *******s. E Midwest isn't one of them, at least in my observations.
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