Study: The Rudest Cities in America

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by photoLith

The last time I was in Detroit we had our tires slashed and the cops were rude as hell and offered no help... so I'd say the list is accurate with Detroit.

Rude cops in Detroit definitely checks out, but... I've never heard of someone randomly getting their tires slashed in Detroit. Were you downtown?

[photoLith]

^
We were taking photos of the exterior of the Packard Factory and werent even trespassing. The security there slashed our tires when we were down the block, apparently a common practice or at least was a couple of years ago from them. And then when we finally got a tow truck and we passed them, they were laughing at us.

However, the tow truck driver was an ex con but was super chill and even went in with us as a kind of body guard to get cash from a sketchy gas stations atm to get new tires from the repair shop at around 2 am.

[Crawford]

Packard Plant is (or was) owned by some South American rich dude with no knowledge of the area.

Detroit proper is for the most part very friendly. I'm definitely stereotyping here, but lots of nice church ladies and good mornings. As in many AA majority areas, it seems rude to not acknowledge passerbys with a greeting or nod.

Suburbs are mostly standard Midwestern. Generally nice, maybe a bit nosy, but not to Southern levels.

[photoLith]

^
We went to Dearborn the day before that happened, and everyone there was super nice as were the people in Hamtramck.

And yes, when we went there, it was owned by the South American guy, I think he was like a billionaire or at least a millionaire from Chile I believe. However, I just looked up the Packard Plant and apparently its going to get torn down now, which sucks.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by photoLith

^
We were taking photos of the exterior of the Packard Factory and werent even trespassing. The security there slashed our tires when we were down the block, apparently a common practice or at least was a couple of years ago from them. And then when we finally got a tow truck and we passed them, they were laughing at us.

However, the tow truck driver was an ex con but was super chill and even went in with us as a kind of body guard to get cash from a sketchy gas stations atm to get new tires from the repair shop at around 2 am.

Ah, okay. That makes more sense now. They probably thought you were trying to strip the building or some other mischief. Not to say that they had a right to do what they did, but I'd just never heard of anyone having their tires slashed in Detroit for no reason.

[3rd&Brown]

There are rude and nice people everywhere.

I think the big cities in the NE have a reputation as being very rude but in reality, I think its more of an in group out group type of thing. If locals suss you out as being able to pass as their type, you're golden. In some cases, this has to do with looks, but it's mostly about how you carry yourself and your approach to the world. If you're walking 3 across should to shoulder on a sidewalk in a big city, you deserve to get treated like a moron. It's actually incredibly rude and demonstrates a complete lack of self awareness. Similarly, if it takes you 20 minutes to make a point, no one has time. And for god's sake, no one wants to hear about how nice you are. In all likelihood, you go to an Evangelical church that preaches hatred against everyone not in your group and actively work to curtail the rights of social minorities (women, minorities, gays, etc) so no, you are not "nice". And yes, you can suss most of that out from how a person carries themselves and where they're from without 45 minutes of conversation.

Hence, the cold shoulder. Go back to your christo-fascist state we're trying to live in the modern era up here.

[mhays]

General points:

1. Rude isn't the same as friendly. It's not rude to keep "close yourself off" in public (it could be in an interactive setting).

2. This is self-grading. That's gotta be a veeerrrry different set of standards in each city!

[The North One]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Rude cops in Detroit definitely checks out, but... I've never heard of someone randomly getting their tires slashed in Detroit. Were you downtown?

He went urban exploring in locations he knew nothing about and wasn't allowed to be in.

Play stupid games win stupid prizes. I don't blame the cops for being rude if they were honestly.

[Phillyguy215]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Philadelphians... as a generalization... do seem to take some sort of perverse pride in the fact that they have a reputation of being assholes. It seems that acting like an idiot somehow equates to being "tough" in the consciousness there.

Call it rudeness or whatever, but I think it's more of a collective insecurity that has been ingrained over the generations of being the rough-around-the-edges "little brother" to New York.

The outward "I'm from Philly" attitude, as if we're all supposed to believe that you're some South Philly street brawler

It's an act more than anything, and I don't find people from Philly to be particularly rude.

I was raised like that being from both West & North Philly. Raised to be tough and take no $#1T from nobody and be the bigger asshole because it’s a dog eat dog world. Plus us people from Philly do have it pretty rough depending on what Neghiborhood your from. We do generally have a asshole attitude, that’s a realistic fact. Atleast we’re assholes to your face and nice behind your back, atleast that’s what my mom says.

But yeah, I took that Philly street brawler attitude which got me in trouble and went to the military with it where I got extra corrective training because I hailed from Philly, they needed to *fix* some things about my personality, per se per the DS.

[badrunner]

There are different levels of "rudeness" in my experience. A lot of it depends on class and upbringing. Ranked from least to most objectionable:

- People who are oblivious to their surroundings, slow, in the way etc. Can be perceived as being rude in the big city.

- People who are rough around the edges or didn't learn proper manners growing up.

- Polite and proper but are passive aggressive, judgemental and condescending.

- Sociopaths, raging assholes, openly racist/bigoted etc.

[badrunner]

Also, it's true what they say about people in fair-weather cities having a sunnier disposition. That's not the same as saying they are nicer people. Just that you're more likely to smile and say hello to someone you pass on the street when the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the flowers are in bloom.

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by photoLith

^
We were taking photos of the exterior of the Packard Factory and werent even trespassing. The security there slashed our tires when we were down the block, apparently a common practice or at least was a couple of years ago from them. And then when we finally got a tow truck and we passed them, they were laughing at us.

However, the tow truck driver was an ex con but was super chill and even went in with us as a kind of body guard to get cash from a sketchy gas stations atm to get new tires from the repair shop at around 2 am.

Originally Posted by photoLith

^
We went to Dearborn the day before that happened, and everyone there was super nice as were the people in Hamtramck.

And yes, when we went there, it was owned by the South American guy, I think he was like a billionaire or at least a millionaire from Chile I believe. However, I just looked up the Packard Plant and apparently its going to get torn down now, which sucks.

Chileans are known for being incredibly obnoxious and rude. And needless to say, the country is incredibly dull. Buenos Aires and Santiago are worlds apart.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

Maybe with traffic, but with regard to nice people you meet when not in traffic, I've found it to be one of the best in the state. You may experience a different vibe in Kingwood. I don't know. Never have been there.

And how Austin was number 1 as least rude is beyond me. I find people exceptionally rude and self absorbed here.

I used to travel nationally on business at least once a month. I met the nicest people in Kansas City, MO, from the time you step off the plane, to rental car agents, to restaurant staff, and hotel staff.

For me, the most rude were Boston and Seattle during my travels.

I've met a lot of nice people in Phoenix, but for some reason I've never been anywhere that compares with the way Phoenix parents allow their kids to run wild in restaurants. I have no explanation for why that would be. But it wasn't some random occurrence. I've been there probably two dozen times, and have seen it happen time after time.

Maybe whoever did this list was in Austin last in 1980. I don't know but the first time I visited Austin and the last time, a couple of years ago, they were two different cities. Houston is same way, it's less 'bless your heart' Texas and like any other big city full of assholes. Kingwood (Houston proper) acts like a small town with a friendlier small town vibe.

[Rico Rommheim]

Wow.

Philadelphia is literally the nicest, most polite city I've ever visited lol.

In fact, the openness and general pleasant behaviour of the locals I've met while I was there (all strangers) is one of the main defining features I hold of that city.

[bossabreezes]

Austin attitude in a nutshell:

Yes, we’re in Texas but we hate Texas. We are better than them. We are better than coastal cities because we said so, and our absurdly overpriced housing market will never burst because we are just so incredibly cool.

[Steely Dan]

rudeness has no universal standard.

one time i was caught behind a group of cardinals fans standing 2-across on an escalator coming up from a subway stop, chatting among themselves and oblivious to their surroundings.

from my perspective, they were holding up traffic and being "rude", so i said loudly enough so that they would have to hear me "can you guys stand over to the right side so the rest of us can get by?"

they turned around looking a little surprised and confused at first and they then awkwardly rearranged themselves onto the right side of the escalator at which point me and the several dozen other people caught behind them proceeded to walk up the left side of the escalator, as is the local custom.

i'm sure that they thought my somewhat gruff command was "rude" too.


so much subjectivity of perspective when it comes to rudeness.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

rudeness has no universal standard.

one time i was caught behind a group of cardinals fans standing 2-across on an escalator coming up from a subway stop, chatting among themselves and oblivious to their surroundings.

from my perception, they were holding up traffic and being "rude", so i said loudly enough so that the would have to hear me "can you guys stand over to the right side so the rest of us can get by?"

they turned around looking a little surprised and confused at first and they then awkwardly rearranged themselves onto the right side of the escalator at which point me and the several other dozen people caught behind them proceeded to walk up the left side of the escalator, as is the local convention.

i'm sure that they thought my somewhat gruff command was "rude" too.


so much subjectivity of perspective when it comes to rudeness.

Yeah, that's just ignorance on their part. You can either walk up/down an escalator or stand on the right side. It's even worse if people are standing two across and a train is pulling into the station and they're blocking your path.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Yeah, that's just ignorance on their part. You can either walk up/down an escalator or stand on the right side.

yeah, they were likely just visitors from some small downstate town where no one is ever in a hurry that just didn't know the "stand on the right" protocols of using a big city transit system.

[Zapatan]

I was jokingly going to suggest that Philly would be number one but wow, it actually is.

It's impossible to be super accurate with a list like this though so it should be taken with a grain of salt.

[Buckeye Native 001]

I think I can probably count on one hand the number of rude people I've encountered in other cities (the worst being a drunk guy in, of all places, Albuquerque) but I try not to go out of my way to be a dickhead to others in real life.