Coming in at 50, New York is literally the least friendly state in the country.
As someone who has experienced much kindness from strangers around the city, this study is a tough one to swallow. Sure, we get upset when someone stops abruptly to fix their shoe in the dead center of the sidewalk, or decides to move at a snail’s pace during the height of rush hour, but who wouldn’t get ticked off about that? According to this study, I guess the other 49 states (but honestly, I think they secretly would too).
The study, which was conducted by Big 7 travel, surveyed a “social audience” of 1.5 million people and asked them: “what are the friendliest states in America?” The results? ‘Varying degrees of politeness,” with New York seemingly being not-so-nice.
According to a report by NBC News, the Big 7 factored in things “like first impression at port of entry, whether that be an airport, train station or other place, locals’ attitudes toward tourists, neighborly feel, stranger openness and ‘general friendliness.'”
On the ranking list, New York is described as:
“Locals might seem a bit gruff at first, but it’s a melting pot of many cultures and the neighbourhoods in each borough have a community feel if you manage to stick it out for long enough. Just don’t dawdle on the sidewalk or hold up traffic taking Instagram shots…”
Honestly, by the description alone it sounds like we just need to be warmed up to a bit…which doesn’t sound as bad as some of the other descriptions, like New Jersey’s “in-your-face personalities” and “outright rudeness.” Can someone pull out the individual facts and figures for this ranking list? Because we’re still just not convinced!
To see where the rest of the states came in on the list, check out the full study here.
featured image source: istockphoto