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The Rudest Cities in America
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Sometimes when planning a vacation knowing what you don't want to experience could be as important as know what you do want. If you want friendly people, these are the places to avoid.
Travel + Leisure
T+L
For many Americans travel is either a life goal or a New Year's resolution. While international cities flooded ’s list of top destinations for 2012, there are plenty of places to choose from in the U.S. And is making your choice easier with its America’s Favorite Cities of 2011 list.
However, sometimes when planning a vacation knowing what you don’t want to experience could be as important as know what you do want. Now you can avoid America’s Rudest Cities.
T+L
All 35 cities in ’s list of America’s Favorite Cities were ranked by readers based on food, people, nightlife and more, and from that list the publication put together its list of rudest cities, based on which visitors ranked the lease friendly.
Essentially, the bigger the city, the tougher its people.
10. Orlando
Apparently the home to The Most Magical Place on Earth just isn’t very friendly. Or maybe being such a family-friend destination — ranked the number one family vacation — wears on you after a while.
Both visitors and residents ranked the people, the nightlife, the culture, the shopping and food low. And according to both groups, Orlando is really only good for family vacations, as it ranked in the bottom 10 for any other type of trip.
9. Baltimore
There’s an odd phenomenon going on in Baltimore, where the residents ranked themselves lower than visitors did in almost every category (including intelligence and attractiveness).
8. Phoenix/Scottsdale
As the 28th friendliest area, Phoenix/Scottsdale had a huge drop off from 2010, when it was ranked 12th. Perhaps it’s just a misunderstanding; the residents of Phoenix/Scottsdale had drastically different opinions on the cities than visitors did.
7. Atlanta
Apparently, visitors didn’t feel the southern hospitality in Atlanta, unlike Charleston, Nashville, New Orleans and Savannah, which were all in the top five friendliest cities.
This city scored low across all categories, except for barbecue food, where it ranked 12th.
6. Dallas/Fort Worth
The people of Dallas/Fort Worth scored poorly across the board, according to visitors, except in one category: they’re the ninth most sports-crazed city.
While visitors enjoyed the barbecue food, the rest of the food/drink/restaurant options all scored in the bottom 10. In fact, most visitors weren’t even sure of why they were visiting the area, with Dallas/Fort Worth landing in the bottom five for types of trips (base for day trips, cultural getaways, family vacation, pet-friendly vacation, romantic escape and wild weekend).
San Antonio and Houston both fared much better.
5. Boston
There’s a lot of good about the people in Boston: they're smart, proud of their city, and tech savvy. However, their driving abilities leave something to be desired, as does the weather.
4. Los Angeles
Last year’s rudest city seems to have cleaned up its act a little. Attractive and stylish, residents don’t think very highly of their own intelligence or the quality of life that their city provides.
But then, you’re mostly going to the City of Angels to shop, according to visitors.
3. Washington, D.C.
Perhaps the nation’s view of Congress has soured its opinion on the city? According to T+L, D.C. got two spots ruder compared to last year. A good family vacation for its educational and cultural value — it got high marks for historical sites/monuments and museums/galleries — not only are the people not friendly, but they’re pretty boring, unattractive and not very proud of their city.
And don’t think about going there for its shopping and food, all of which ranked very low.
2. Miami
Being good looking (6) and stylish (5) doesn’t save this beach getaway. People in Miami are terrible drivers — probably because they can’t stand their long commutes. Even residents had poor views on the people they live with, giving low scores to their intelligence, tech savvy, and friendliness.
Miami’s residents are just generally not very proud of their city, which scored low for culture, food, cleanliness and safety. According to residents and visitors the only good time of the year to visit Miami is during the winter, and it’s really only good for wild weekends.
1. New York City
New Yorkers have always had a reputation for being tough and having attitude, and in 2011 they were the least friendly. The last time the city held that honor was in 2009. New York also scored low in driving ability, safety, cleanliness and affordability.
However, there was plenty of good about NYC, namely the city’s culture, taking the top spots for theater/performance art and classical music, and coming in second for museums/galleries.
And according to voters, it’s a good place to visit during Christmas, coming in seventh.
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