Dennis RomeroLos Angeles is the marijuana capital of the nation. This town beamed countercultural surfing to the world via early 1960s teen movies. And, as a onetime part of Mexico, our casa is perennially su casa.
If it weren't Australian, the saying no worries would be ours, too.
What we're trying to say here is that the biggest city in sunny Southern California is laid-back. We practically invented laid-back.
A new ranking published by Travel + Leisure of 30 of the “World's Unfriendliest Cities” begs to differ.
The publication says it asked readers to take a questionnaire about 266 cities around the world. “Respondents were screened by Travel + Leisure and responses from any identified travel-industry professionals who completed the survey were eliminated from the final tally,” it stated.
L.A. ranked fifth. Fifth!
We even beat perpetually surly New York, which came in sixth place. What gives? Here's Travel + Leisure's last word:
Ceaseless sunshine isn’t enough to warm up Los Angeles, according to survey responders. While the city is filled with good-looking people, many of them come off as pretentious or holier than thou. “Rude, unhelpful people trying to scam you for everything” is what one disgruntled visitor encountered.
We feel so dirty. Where's the nearest shower?
No. 6 New York took the top spot on the list of “15 Unfriendliest Cities in America.” Strange: L.A. was ranked No. 8 in the United States. In that ranking, Travel + Leisure described Angelenos as “hip, gorgeous and kinda snooty.”
This coming from some turtleneck geek of a travel writer who probably thinks Michael Kors is haute couture. Oh, wait …
They weren't even done with us, either. Miami, which ranked 12th on the world list, was described by one readier this way: “It's as if someone took the worst part of Los Angeles and slathered coconut oil all over it.”
Credit: Fiona Hodge/Flickr
Ouch.
In case you're wondering, Moscow (1), Atlantic City (2) and St. Petersburg were the top three unfriendliest cities in the world. New York (1), Detroit (2) and Philadelphia (3) topped the U.S. list.
Las Vegas, our neon suburb (Las Vegans really hate it when we see them this way), ranked ninth on the world list and seventh on the American list.
So try to be nicer, Angelenos. We really need more haters coming here to clog traffic.
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