Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
The World's Most Polite and Rude Cities
I don't know how empirical this study is, but here's the skinny. Reader's Digest dispatched several undercover reporters in three dozen cities across the world. In each city, the reporters:
- Walked into public buildings 20 times behind people to see if they held open the door.
- Bought small items from 20 stores and recorded whether the sales assistants thanked them.
- Dropped a folder full of papers in 20 busy locations to see if anyone would help collect the scattered contents.
The reporters awarded one point for each positive outcome and nothing for a negative one. The results of this "study" show that the top three most polite cities are New York, Zurich and Toronto. Conversely, Asia fared very poorly. Eight out of nine cities there finished in the bottom 11. Could this be a cultural thing?
The least friendly city? Mumbai, India. They may be rude in Mumbai, but they sure can cook.
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Asia, North America
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 6)
Amanda Feb 25th 2007 5:34PM
I don't think people in New York seem very friendly. Try coming to the midwest. Everyone says hello to everyone else on the street, and you can make small talk with people you've never met. Unlike in big, polluted cities like New York,nobody is running around hurrying and trying mow you down to get to their destination. I live in West Des Moines, Iowa, and I think it is one of the best places to be.
lisa Feb 25th 2007 5:37PM
Bull crap New York is not only filthy and smelly (especially in the summer months), but the people are down right nasty! I know I live here.
Judy Rademaker Feb 25th 2007 5:38PM
I am a native New yorker who now lives in Arizona. If I could afford it, I would still be in New York. The people in AZ are rude, nasty, and obnoxious. They also hate NYers because we speak our minds.
anon Feb 25th 2007 5:46PM
-You know what's rude? Calling all Iowan men, Chinese people, Indians, etc. nasty names. It's also ignorant.
-This poll was done last year as well and a number of cultural differences were shown to effect the rankings. I'm surprised they bothered to do such a flawed experiment again.
melissa Feb 25th 2007 6:12PM
Was recently back in Mass where I am origianally from and realised that people can be very rude there. Lived in the south for 24 years and when I said "Thank you" to anyone waitresses bus drivers cab drivers or anyone else they looked at me like I was nuts! What has happened that common courtesy is looked at like everyone has forgotten those words? Please and thank you to me thats nuts!
Jonas Quinn Feb 25th 2007 5:54PM
Yes. We have the same problem with the Chinese people here in Stockholm. They are disgusting. We would wish they would all go back to China. They are filthy people with their antiquated culture. They have no respect for the country they are living in.
Mary Feb 25th 2007 7:05PM
I've travelled to may cities in the US, Mexico and Europe. New Yorkers that I dealt with were for the most part polite but coming from El Paso, Texas I have to say not as polite as El Pasoans. Some of the rudest people I have seen are in DC, Maryland and Paris, France. Some of the nicest people I have dealt with were in Mexico, Wurzburg,Germany and in Munich.
PeterAlanNelson Feb 25th 2007 6:08PM
New Yorkers can go ahead and be proud of winning this competition, but keep in mind that New York was the only U.S. city in the running. (U.S.A.! U.S.A.!)
I'm not an overseas traveler, but I've been all over America, and I could relate anecdotes of both good and bad manners occurring about everywhere. One thing that comes to mind is that frequent business travelers consistently rank Chicago number 1 in "friendliness" (at least pre-9.11, if that marks a point where New Yorkers got friendlier).
One simple test might be in the manners of sports fans. Chicago would have little reason to be proud about its fans, but really, you have to admit that New York fans--and Northeast fans in general--are the rudest.
Cathy Feb 25th 2007 6:14PM
I have traveled and lived many places... and after 16 yrs of living in SC, I was sick of hearing how northeners, esp people in NY and Boston were rude.... I am not from NY or Boston, but, I can tell you no place in this country has a lone monopoly on rudenss. There are many nice,courteous people in all places that I've been, but, no people can top the North East for being courteous, and very accepting of differences, which must have to do with so many different cultures that have had to live side by side for so long.
Keith Wood Jul 7th 2008 2:06AM
You're right! I am from Boston, now living in SC and I can't stand it either. They still fly the Confederate flag and playing the song "dixie" which I hate. But I agree, there are nice people and rude people everywhere you go.
James Feb 25th 2007 6:12PM
Ever been to Los Angeles ???? People who live there think they are in a war ! In fact, they ARE ! The gangs there are a nighttmare, the traffic is the worst, and the people very defensive. Hell......can you blame them ?
GARY Feb 25th 2007 6:12PM
I WORK ALL SUMMER LONG IN A CRUISE SHIP DESTINATION, WHERE WE DEAL WITH ALL TYPES AND NATIONALITIES. PEOPLE FROM NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ARE BY FAR THE RUDEST OBNOXIOUS PEOPLE IN THE US. FOLOWED BY CALIFORNIANS. GET A CLUE PEOPLE, WE DONT OWE YOU ANY THING BE NICE AND WE WILL BE NICE BACK. THE YOUNG ASIANS AND INDIANS IN CALIFORNIA, GET OFF YOUR CELLS PHONES AND USE YOUR TURN SIGNALS WHEN YOU DRIVE. I AM LIVING IN THE BAY AREA TILL I GO BACK TO ALASKA. I CANT WAIT TO GET OUT OF CA. THE RUDEST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD LIVE HERE.
deb Feb 25th 2007 6:12PM
What an idiot to rank Raleigh NC as a dump! FORBES MAGAZINE ranked Raleigh #1 most desirable places to live in the entire USA. YOU must have relatives in a poorer section of the city to make such a stupid remark!
STEVEN SOMMERS Feb 25th 2007 8:46PM
I AM FROM HOUSTON WHICH PRIDES ITS SELF ON BEING VERY FRINDLY, BUT I MUST SAY I HAVE NEVER ENCOUNTERED A RUDE PERSON IN NEW YORK WHO DID NOT GO OUT OF THE WAY TO HELP A VISITOR
Fran Feb 25th 2007 6:14PM
I am a native New Yorker who spent many years in Southern California and now live in the MidWest (Ohio). The rudest, most self-absorbed and inconsiderate people are unquestionably in Southern California. New York people, cab drivers and hotel workers, especially, are extremely polite and helpful. The rude people I encounter now in New York are almost always from other countries, and seem to delight in being as unhelpful and unfriendly as possible. Hate to sound poitically incorrect here, but it has been my experience over and over that young Indian and Middle Eastern men are the worst.
My fellow Native NY-ers are a bunch of sweethearts!
Kosie Feb 25th 2007 6:20PM
Hey bootz: Please do all the good people in North Carolina a big favor...stay out of our state!
I have found that people are usually polite when I am polite to them. New Yorkers have shown me they are just like the people in Winston-Salem and Raleigh, NC....kind, thoughful, helpful and polite as long as I treat them nicely.
deb Feb 25th 2007 9:42PM
what about Boston ? we are mostly polite,,NY'ers are good too anyone mostly the east coast gets a bad rep for not being nice it is so untrue...
Jorgen Von Stein Feb 25th 2007 6:25PM
absolutely and guess who the limo drivers are! Chinese,Pakistanis or Indians!
Very rude people indeed, but then again, look at their home countries..horrific messes!
Jorgen Von Stein Feb 25th 2007 6:29PM
New Yorkers are good people. Ive visited there as well. In my country, Switzerland, thank god we dont have too many of these Chinese or Indians, but we do have arabs. They are rude as well! We try to ignore them.
Anders Keplinger Feb 25th 2007 7:22PM
That chick from South Carolina has got to be the most ignorant person on the board.
"Because you dont support 'gay marriage'or 'abortion' doesnt give us the right to call you politically obtuse or ignorant"
Yeah it does lil miss "dixie-chick". You are backward, ignorant and inbred. There, I said it. Thats what most people think of when they think of South Carolina. People that are irrelevant, stupid and IGNORANT. South Carolina is a.k.a "a shithole"
The only reason people live there is because they are stuck there.
Anders,
West Hollywood,CA and proud of it!