Washington DC rated as one of the most unfriendly US Cities, why?
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People in the DC area mainly stick to their niches and don't obsess over being friendly or unfriendly in general either way.
If you tell people here that they're unfriendly, it will leave them scratching their heads... because amongst their tightnit group of friends, DC people are actually extremely friendly.
Do you think a friendly, laid back young gay white male like me from rural West Virginia would fit all right in Washington, D.C. or would I be better off in Atlanta, Georgia?
Both Atlanta and D.C. has an excellent job market for Journalism and TV Broadcasting; D.C. is just closer to my family in WV.
There are people from all over in DC, including other people from rural areas. Actually I have a friend from WV, and she is a very friendly person.
People don't stop and converse with strangers they pass by randomly while walking and that sort of thing that people often do in small communities. However, I think that is more because you pass by so many people in a day due to crowdedness that it isn't possible to converse with anyone.
However, I've found people to be as friendly as anywhere else in social situations. There are many people moving to DC from all over who want to make friends, and there are plenty of places to meet people (casual sports leagues, volunteering, various types of clubs/groups one can join). You do have to make an effort to meet people (unless you already have friends here who can introduce you), such as by joining a club or attending an event rather than hoping people will randomly walk up to you and say hello in the street. However, assuming you make a bit of an effort, you should be able to meet friendly people.
Remember DC is a large, diverse place with people from all over, so with some effort you should be able to find people you get along with. Also since you mentioned being gay, I think that the gay social scene is very friendly (based on the experiences of a close gay friend of mine who moved here from out of town, and make a bunch of close friends fairly quickly). If you want to meet other gay males as well as straight allies, DC is a great place since for the most part it is very progressive.
As a native I would say it's a good city to be in if you want to keep to yourself, work hard and advance in your career. It's the center of the national government not an entertainment center or a friendly small town. Of course you can meet friendly interesting people here and like anywhere it is what you make it. However, people don't generally come here for lifestyle or cultural reasons (though there's plenty of culture here if you look for it) and that's fine. Moving to DC and complaining about uptight lawyers and government officials is like moving to LA and complaining about superficial aspiring Hollywood actors and actresses.
Ditto everything that movinghere said. I'm originally from WV, you have to be more observant don't do stuff like leave your doors unlocked type thing like back home. It took me a long time to make friends when I first moved here (I only knew one person) as I was a bit shy (not super social) then but it happened eventually via work, school, recreational sports, etc. Overall, most people are friendly, but you'll run into a couple of aholes now and then - it happens. Things move faster here, more expensive (there are a lot of free events too) so it'll take an adjustment depending on how adaptable you are. Good luck with your move, if you make that decision.
Quote:
Originally Posted by movinghere
There are people from all over in DC, including other people from rural areas. Actually I have a friend from WV, and she is a very friendly person.
People don't stop and converse with strangers they pass by randomly while walking and that sort of thing that people often do in small communities. However, I think that is more because you pass by so many people in a day due to crowdedness that it isn't possible to converse with anyone.
However, I've found people to be as friendly as anywhere else in social situations. There are many people moving to DC from all over who want to make friends, and there are plenty of places to meet people (casual sports leagues, volunteering, various types of clubs/groups one can join). You do have to make an effort to meet people (unless you already have friends here who can introduce you), such as by joining a club or attending an event rather than hoping people will randomly walk up to you and say hello in the street. However, assuming you make a bit of an effort, you should be able to meet friendly people.
Remember DC is a large, diverse place with people from all over, so with some effort you should be able to find people you get along with. Also since you mentioned being gay, I think that the gay social scene is very friendly (based on the experiences of a close gay friend of mine who moved here from out of town, and make a bunch of close friends fairly quickly). If you want to meet other gay males as well as straight allies, DC is a great place since for the most part it is very progressive.
These other cities tend to be somewhat as friendly as D.C. or, more than likely, not nearly as friendly.
It's such an entirely subjective, anecdotal notion that it's barely worth noting. Small towns certainly aren't always friendly and big cities certainly aren't always unfriendly. I just think the general gist of this conversation is that for many people DC isn't a particularly friendly city, not necessarily through any fault of the city or the people experiencing it. DC has a lot going for it. Its population is educated, wealthy, well-traveled, international, white-collar, technologically savvy and upwardly mobile. Those are all great things. All the whole, though, they don't tend to be particularly friendly. People usually here come for career-driven reasons and it pervades the culture of the town. Oh, well. Cie la vie! Still a nice place to live where you can meet many good people and "friendliness" is overrated anyway.
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