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Tell me about the friendliest town in the U.S. Looking for something with fewer than 500,000 people but with a population maybe greater than 50,000. I've been dealing with some grumpy, passive-aggressive, possibly clinically insane city folk in my mid-sized hometown today, and I want to do a little daydreaming about moving to some place smaller where people are generally easy-going and NICE.
I hope you are not judging all Portlanders by some you have been encountering on the Portland forum. There are all kinds of people in this city. Some are actually very nice people.
Tell me about the friendliest town in the U.S. Looking for something with fewer than 500,000 people but with a population maybe greater than 50,000. I've been dealing with some grumpy, passive-aggressive, possibly clinically insane city folk in my mid-sized hometown today, and I want to do a little daydreaming about moving to some place smaller where people are generally easy-going and NICE.
Please discuss!
I find Asheville, NC to be that type of place. The city doesn't have a lot of job diversity but people move there and make it work because they really want to live there. That seems to keep through on a daily basis as it's not a place one becomes trapped in...like some cities.
First off, there ARE some areas of the country that have grumpier and just meaner people. I have travelled quite a bit and I make general observations. I lived in San Luis Obispo CA and I would have to say all around the people there were extremely friendly. It's about 50k people nestled in a valley in the central coast about halfway between LA and SF.
I've never lived somewhere where people were so quick to help you and give you a smile. The Auto Zone manager even helped me fix my car for free! Sure there were a few jerks, but much less than everywhere else I lived.
I now live in a town of comparable population in northern Indiana and people here for the most part are very rude and back stabbing. Id say the nice people here are in numbers of the mean people in SLO, meaning that the majority here are downright miserable. Just looking at some of them, long sad faces, people gossiping because there's nothing else to do. Definitely a different mindset. When my relatives visited my in CA they could not believe how nice and happy people were. They are so used to seeing everyone frowning.
I have relatives in Omaha, NE and in my experience, people there are incredibly friendly and helpful. It's the friendliest city I've been to in the US.
I've been particularly pleased with the general friendliness of people in Grand Rapids, MI, Hilo, HI, and Cumberland, MD.
The OP's question reminds me of a story I once heard. A man is walking down the street when another man approaches him. "I'm new in town," he says, "and I'm wondering what the people here are like."
The first man asks, "What were the people like where you came from?"
"Oh, they were great. Everyone was always friendly and willing to lend a hand. I'm really sad to have to leave there."
"Well," says the first man, "you'll be happy to know that the people here are just like that."
The second man is pleased by this, thanks him, and walks away. A few seconds later, another man comes up to him. "I'm new in town," he says, "and I'm wondering what the people here are like."
The first man asks, "What were the people like where you came from?"
"They were horrible. Everyone was mean and nasty and it was just a miserable place to live."
"Well," says the first man, "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but that's what they're like here too."
You see the moral of the story? In a lot of ways, you get what you give; what goes around comes around. While I do believe that some places are friendlier than others, there's also a lot of truth to the notion that you, yourself, can have a big influence on your environment.
I hope you are not judging all Portlanders by some you have been encountering on the Portland forum. There are all kinds of people in this city. Some are actually very nice people.
Oh, I know, Minervah. I actually grew up here! This may sound insane to people from larger places, but I think that Portland has outgrown me in the past decade. I have to go downtown every day, and I've grown to seriously dread my interactions there. Maybe it's time to think somewhere a little smaller. And, to be honest, most of the people I've encountered on the Portland board are really pretty nice! I expect a bit of adversarial behavior on a forum. Irl, maybe not so much
Thanks for all the feedback, guys! I'm going to check out some of the places that have been mentioned and learn a bit more about them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Challenger76
...there ARE some areas of the country that have grumpier and just meaner people.
If you check out the Portland and Seattle forums, you'll hear people complain about the "Seattle Freeze" and discuss whether or not it is a real phenomenon. I haven't traveled very extensively myself, but I think there probably are very real cultural differences in different parts of the country and in metropolises of varying sizes.
Someone back me up! Hahaha.
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