Visitors say L.A. is the rudest city in America. Do you agree?

Maybe it's all those frustrated people stuck on the freeways -– honking horns and flipping the bird. Or maybe it's the notoriously annoying lines through security and customs at LAX. Whatever the reason, visitors voted Los Angeles the rudest city in America, according to a recent Travel & Leisure magazine survey.

Yup, that's right. Ruder than New York.

The survey measured a number of different categories. Out of 35 major cities, L.A. also ranked dead last in public transportation and pedestrian-friendliness.

But take heart, Angelenos, it's not all bad. We ranked in the top 10 for luxury stores (No. 4), big-name restaurants (No. 6) and weather (No. 8).

Do you agree with the results? Is Los Angeles really that rude? According to the survey, which provides rankings by both visitors and residents, the city is not very friendly. Even residents put it at No. 34 -- that's one spot away from the bottom. Give us your thoughts below.

-- Kimi Yoshino

Photo: The view of downtown Los Angeles on a clear day. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Alex Padilla]

Yes, sadly I agree. I've lived in Mexico City, Seville, Chicago and Seattle before here. I recently moved from Seattle to LA. People here are not only rude and mean, are also not well educated and that contributes to the problem. The pollution in LA LA LAND is just nasty, and the attitude of some people here makes this place a living hell. Traffic is the worst I EVER seen!

[Steve Matsukawa]

No doubt about it, Los Angeles has lost it's proverbial mind and has demonstrated a definite lack of sense.

It's all about 'me' and screw the rest of you. Cutting in lines and lanes, the finger is the regional bird, f#%% y$% is the local greeting, the gun barrel is the foundation of local society.

Los Angeles is without a doubt the nastiest, unfriendliest and rudest city in the United States if not the world. 'Help' is not in the vocabulary, along with 'please' and 'thank you'. The police would sooner pull you in as shoot you. The kids look you over as targets of convenience.

You, the customer, are seen as an inconvenience in fast food restaurants and stores. Movie theatre ushers are a sullen, brooding lot. Don't fall down on the sidewalks as you will just be walked on and over. Car salesmen all but shake you down for money before a word is uttered.

Why would anyone want to come to Los Angeles? Because they are either ignorant or stupid. Either way they would make perfect targets for the local wildlife. They would leave Los Angeles naked and broke.

So the lesson here is this: don't go to Los Angeles unless you are jonesing for a black eye or dying to be insulted. Go somewhere where you are welcome and a ready smile is to be had, somewhere such as Baghdad or Paris or even Moscow. But don't go to Los Angeles unless you have some kind of masochistic streak in you.

[theOracle]

LA the rudest? Is that a joke? I am currently spending time in Chicago and you don't know rude until you spend a winter here. The main form of exercise here is avoiding being run over trying to walk across the street. Getting from your car to the front door of the grocery store qualifies as an extreme sport. They put up stop signs everywhere which you are apparently supposed to ignore. Heaven help you should you stop at one. And never, ever, slow down if turning right on red or the guy behind you will try and pass you on the right. Anytime that you drive less than 15 MPH OVER the posted speed limit your rear view mirror is filled with the grimacing face of some soccer mom following so close that you can't see her headlights. Failing to burn rubber when the light turns green ALWAYS results in some clown behind you leaning on their horn. Ask a question in a store like, "Do you have this in my size?" will either be met with a withering glare or shrug of the shoulders. LA the rudest? I hardly think so.

[L.Cortinas]

damn right,rudest,most shollow,boring,no culture,mindless,i can go on for days

[SmartAssProducts.com]

Anyone who thinks LA is the rudest city in America has never visited Dallas. I had the extreme misfortune of living there, and its rudeness makes LA look like heaven. People run you off the road, threaten you if you have bumper stickers that oppose their ultra-conservative views, and I don't think I ever saw a person smile just for the sake of smiling. Miserable place...and very rude. Contrast that with the laid back attitude us Angelenos are known for, the friendly random chit chats at places like supermarkets or the beach, and I'll take LA any day over Dallas [or other cities/states I've visited or lived in]. Rudest city? I don't think so!

[BLUEWATER]

When I was in L.A everyone was nice and made me
laugh and yea it was a funny place so Im not sure yet
Id have to stay for at least a yr before I cast a vote!

[jerry spicer]

Yes I agree that LA is the rudest city in America. I am from there and live in New York now. New Yorkers are some of the nicest people in America. It's hard for me to even go home to visit my mother in LA because of the people there

[Scott]

I have been to LA three times in the past year and completely disagree with the ranking given to the City of Angels.

Not only have I found the people here friendly but those that I have met have always gone out of their way to make me feel welcome.

Take heart Angeleno's, I've found much ruder people in much smaller cities such as Auckland, New Zealand!

[99th percentile]

The survey was online (see methodology link). Because the sample was not random the results have unknown significance. They don't even indicate the total number of respondents. Additionally, how likely is it that all respondents actually visited each of the thirty five cities recently?
http://www.travelandleisure.com/americas-favorite-cities/2010/methodology
http://www.amexpub.com/index.cfm
Incidentally, readers should question why the L.A. Times appears to accept American Express as the 'maven of manners'. It isn't as if the folks at AE are exactly prescient. Consider the huge lead they had early on in the charge card market. They squandered their lead because they failed to capitalize on revolving charge accounts.

[Steve]

Which people are rudest? Where? L.A. is a huge area, and to many visitors iincludes the City of L.A., the county and even Orange County. Many visitors think they're in L.A. when they go to Disneyland. Such surveys are basically anecdotal, and are not scientific surveys. The people conducting, and publishing, the surveys, know they are unscientific. Not really useful. But they get attention, such as the item above. Yawn.

[Mike Miller]

Maybe some of these people who think L.A. is so rude are rude themselves. I think generally people respond to you according to how they perceive your demeanor. This is a huge, fast-paced city with more to offer than most cities so suck it up and get over yourselves.

[Nick]

I visited Los Angeles in August last year, I live in New Zealand it was my second visit, all the people were we met were really nice and helpfull I was suprised. The city is really in ya face tho only problem we had was with the cab drivers they never set the meter (or tariff) and then try rip you off at the end of the trip.

[Regina123]

If you are driving, or at LAX, I agree. Clueless, entitled and rude. Of course, the traffic would make a saint crazy. Once on foot, and in the neighborhoods, it is a different story. I have met many many helpful and friendly people. However, the language barriers can cause some problems - but that isn't rudeness. Also, I find you get what you give - a smile will go a long way in keeping everyone friendly.

[Jason M]

Don't forget almost 70% of LA population were not originally born in LA. About 35% of LA population are Illegals Aliens from countries south of the border! Therefore all the immigrants from other states and countries are to be blamed for the melting pot.

[jp]

LOL, that's so rude..

[link]

Rudest, maybe. Meanest, definitely.

[Collis Huntington]

Los Angles is home to millions of desperately poor, illiterate third world refugees living in filthy, crowded conditions. Rudeness goes with the territory.

[fil]

I think it has to be LAX. My family just arrived from Australia. It took 2 parents with 3 toddlers three hours to get through the customs line after a 15 hour flight. The greeting from customs is horrible to visitors. I think it would do a lot for the general perception of the US entirely if a more friendly approach was taken and a lot more customs agents were hired to handle the increasing tourist traffic that is coming due to the lower dollar. I believe LA has been seeing quite a boost in tourist revenue of late.

[silverlaker1]

I am so surprised by this - I have found LA to be incredibly friendly and polite in the past 10 years of living year. Yes, people are isolated in their cars, but I have never experienced the city being rude. For the most part people seem quite happy here. I have found that New York has gotten more polite over the past few years, and (is it just me?) but Boston seems to have become much ruder!

[Weihan Dong]

Absolutely true! No city in the English-speaking world - and I've travelled to all of them - is as rude as LA! Here, people would rather kill you than give you the right-of-way on roads, or zap you out of existence just to get your parking space. No one says "Thanks!" if you hold the door open for them, but instead respond with a "what-kind-of-fool-are-you?" look.
As my friends from China call this place: "Hell-A" - and that it is.

[Bill Davidson]

I think that the visitors see all the hot women that won't speak with them....

[velour]

I grew up here and have spent much of my life in LA. I've also traveled extensively and the only place that people are ruder than LA is Paris. I've spent consideralble time in NY as well and I have NEVER found New Yorkers to be rude at all. They can be very matter of fact in conversation but never rude. I'm 47 and New York is the only place where young people open the door for me. That should tell you everything

[newshawk]

It depends on how much money you have... you CAN buy nice. But as to the rest of us who can't, then yes, it's a rude place to be. Not sure it's worse than NYC but it's certainly a draw.

[misanthropicus]

Oh, yes, Los Angeleas is very rude - or, if you want, uncivilized or uncouth - and top this with its solid phoniness.

And despite the objective predicaments (the eternal Club med climate, which is actually tiring), there are many other "subjective" elements that make it so, i.e. Los Angeles being essentially a 3rd world dusty town, where the locals (generally Latin America immigrants) are of a frightening obliviousness when it comes to courtesy, manners, grace and savoir faire -

No local knows nothing about Los Angeles, no one can give directions, no one has sense of history or betrays a minimasl sense that there is such a thing like an outside world - provincial museums, cultural parochialism, and and a gross melange of American hipsterism and Latin american indifference -

Just enter any store, from 7-eleven to delis, the personnel is illiterate, indifferent, odiously dressed, unprecise and UNIFORMLY VULGAR... but, thanks god, multicultural and busily checking their messages -

As far as touting the most blah-blah-blah stores or restaurants... who cares? No one travels to vist Rodeo drive or who knows what restaurant in the West side -

[affableman]

Arizona's worse...