Happy Monday, Los Angeles—you are absolutely miserable to be around. That is, according to a recent survey released by Travel and Leisure which named Los Angeles the fifth most unfriendly city in the world.
Scoring a 68.090 on the unhappiness meter—the rankings are based off a survey that asked readers to “rank 266 cities on everything from their access to art and culture to the friendliness of their people."
Here’s what they had to say about Los Angeles: “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.”
Even reviews for other cities didn’t hesitate to fire shots our way. The blurb for Miami, which was ranked 12th in the world list, quotes one responder as saying about the city, “It’s as if someone took the worst part of Los Angeles and slathered coconut oil all over it.” That one actually kind of hurt.
To add insult to injury, New York was ranked one spot friendlier, in sixth place. Not to question the validity of the methodology here, but New York ranked number one on the publication’s 2015 list of least friendly cities in America (based off a different survey), while Los Angeles ranked eighth. In that list, our city’s residents were described as “hip, gorgeous, and kinda snooty.” It also added that you “might also encounter some tourists’ elbows while trying to take a selfie on the crowded Walk of Fame.”
Rounding out the top five on the world list are Marseilles, France; St. Petersburg, Russia; Atlantic City, New Jersey (the only city in the U.S. to out-rank us); and Moscow, Russia.