I recently conducted a poll on my Facebook to ask people which cities they think are the friendliest. These are the names that came up: Cuenca, Ecuador; Toronto; Vancouver, BC; Chicago; Manchester, England; and Texas. Of course Texas is a state and not a city, but I have heard that on a whole the people are very friendly from there. I decided to create a list of factors that I feel a city should rate high on in order to be considered friendly. Let me know what you think!
- How members most in need are treated (i.e. poor, sick, elderly, disabled, homeless etc.)
- How well strangers treat each other
- The number of community programs and groups (i.e. Meetup groups, local bands, not-for-profit groups)
- How well new-comers to the city are treated
- The number of open spaces, including parks and bike paths
- Accessibility to the downtown core, including parking rates
- Efficiency and ease of the public transportation system
- The number and size of festivals
- Is the city family friendly?
- Affordability of housing
Please add to the list if you can think of anymore points, and let me know which cities you think are the friendliest.
