Are San Francisco people rude?

are you serious? The few people i've met from San Fran have been really friendly! Which parts of San Fran did this happen, in?

Hey Gemmal,

No way, I've been to SF many times and i have found that people in San Francisco have been nothing but very nice and accomodating. What nationality are you? I am Australian and i find that perhaps Americans in general are actually a little nicer to me because of it!

I love SF!!

I would say that overall, this is the friendliest U.S. city I have been to. However, there are a lot of transplants from all over the world (as well as the rest of the country), so the friendly attitude may not have permeated EVERY San Franciscan yet.

I actually don't even mind traffic as much out here, because drivers are SO polite and will let you merge anywhere...

I haven't been to a lot of different cities in the US or anywhere else. Seattle has pretty nice people too. I would say probably as nice as people in the Bay Area. Montreal is probably the place where I felt most welcome of any place I have ever been but I was only there for a few weeks.

I've mets lots of mid-Westerners who moved here and they seem really nice. A met a bunch Virginians (or were they West Virginians) who had all studied architecture together and they were really, really nice--but maybe architects are really nice--they're the only ones I've met outside of the Brady Bunch reruns.

Rudeness is an art that we haven't really learned here in the Bay Area--LA definitely has us beat there. But the true masters of rudeness are on the East Coast where it is a long proud tradition. I am reminded of the old joke:

How does a New Yorker perform CPR? He leans over the sufferer and says, "Yo, wake up. Ya gonna die!" And walks on.

On the other hand, I have never had so much of a sense of community as I did when I used to live in an apartment building on 17th and First in Manhattan as a kid. There was a feeling that everyont in the building was looking out for eachother. (Partly because many of the people in the building were doctors and nurses who worked together at the hospital.) If I had a problem I felt like I could go to the building supervisor (big burly Mr. Brown) or knock on one of the neighbor's doors that we knew.

I guess when you are living in a big scary city you get this sense of us against them that helps build lines of communication.

I agree that East Coasters are more rude than West Coasters (which I can say, because I'm from the East Coast). New York City, in particular, has its fair share of rude people in addition to the friendly locals who are willing to help anyone out.

Here is my biggest problem with New York: people are not intentionally rude, the city is just so chaotic that everyone clams up into their own little worlds. As a result, they are more disengaged from one another, and little subtleties like saying "excuse me" when you bump into someone, or holding a door for a stranger, are lost in the shuffle (although highly appreciated when they actually do happen!)

Rudeness isn't prevalent in a traditional sense, but exists more in a cold, isolating way. Yet another reason why San Francisco is the greatest city (culture without disengagement from the world around you).

Don't get me wrong - I do love New York, and know plenty of kindhearted people who live there. I am simply observing the overall vibe of the city.

Here's the thing. Most people that live in SF are transplants from somewhere else. There are local people that have lived here all of their lives but they are far and few between. When I first moved here I felt like @gemmal did because on my first day at work a woman said after learning I was from the East Coast, "What? They can't find talent in the Bay Area?" - Nice. "Apparently not" is what I replied. But I think that it does depend on where you go and who you bump into.

In terms of rudeness, I think SF is minor in comparison to other places.

The mid-west and the southern people are perhaps the nicest. Everyone I've ever met from Colorado is super nice. Must be all that sunshine!

I'm from the Midwest and perhaps it's the Midwesterner in me but I find a minority of San Franciscan's incredibly rude but not in the way that Gemmal did. I'm 4'9", if I had a $1 for every time a San Franciscan cut in front of me in line or conveniently didn't see me, I would be quite wealthy by now. I live in the Marina where I have occasionally had some bad experiences with people who found the fact that I was not perfectly fit so dismaying that they let me know subtly that I did not deserve to live here. You could say that's a Marina problem but I think there is a disturbing attitude that some (all be it a small minority) some San Franciscan's have. I also think they have this attitude: "I am the center of the universe and the world must revolve around me." I sometimes wonder how they can all live in the city together when so many of them really believe they are special and rules of all kinds do not apply to them.

There are really nice people who live in San Francisco too, not all people are like this. If they were all like this I would have left a long time ago but it is a frequently witnessed theme around here.

I am from new England originally.I agree people from the east rude.But after experiencing Marin county,I can say they are far more horrible!! I can't even stand going out here. I think the suburban areas of San fransico are the worst.I feel really bad vibes in Novato,mill valley,San Rafael...When I first arrived we ran out of money and lived in my car for a time.we were in ukiah and no one helped us except for east coasters and people from out of the country.It just amazes me how rude and self absorbed people are everywhere in ca.I have lived in San Diego,Mendocino county,Marin county and Sonoma.They all suck! I hope ca falls of in one giant earthquake!!! This is exactly why the world is going to be destroyed soon.People don't RESPECT each other any more,everyone is selfish and greedy,no one cares about family or togetherness,they don't even care about the creator that made them and everything in the world.I know there are always good people mixed in with all the bad people.Ca people are a good example of how to not be towards others.You can be vegan and recycle,but if you treat others bad what does it matter?Nothing matters more on the planet than how you treat your fellow brothers and sisters!How do you change the world?One random act of kindness at a time!! Bless the nice people of the world

I completely disagree. I am Italian, lived in Belgium, Switzerland and East Coast and I find San Franciscan very nice and friendly (a little too hipster eventually).
Please consider there is plenty of animal that invade SF clubs during the weekend and you may be mistaken by some rude coming from out of town.

I don't have an extensive frame of reference, but it always seemed to me like people were actually ruder in places like LA, but maybe I am not sure what you mean by "rude." I have found all the hippy types to be more than willing to lend a hand when you're in a scrape. But, again. I don't have an extensive frame of reference to go on.

Oh, my, but you are SO right -- I've lived all over this country and even in Paris for a time, and SF/NorCal people are the rudest people I've ever encountered! Just mannerless and clueless and self-absorbed and narcissistic. You can't even walk down a street in SF without being run off the sidewalk by a bunch of dirty-looking, badly dressed, hipster/techie-types walking four across and all glued to their iThings. Also, people in San Francisco are the most racist, bigoted, narrow, elitist exclusionary types I've ever met.

Huh? Wait I missed that,I was messaging on my iPhone and looking for a flea market where I could find some more clothes.

But I did hear you say something about being racist. You should read real estate forums from around the country--to me it seems like there is no shortage of racism to go around. Though I will give you elitism; people from SF are definitely in the top 2 there. Only New Yorkers sometimes take that crown.

I lived in San Francisco for a year and although I did find many people to be very friendly I also found many people in the service industry to be extremely rude and I experienced aggressive verbal behaviour frequently! I am a very friendly and polite person so I felt that such rudeness was uncalled for!

I've lived in San Francisco for going on two years now. I've also been to L.A. five times in the last three years total.

I've been planning a move to L.A. for some time because there was something about it that I liked better. This weekend sealed the deal--figuratively, but not immediately.

The Bay Area is superior to L.A. in many, many ways. I mean, the air is cleaner, there's not barbed wire around freeway road sign poles, traffic isn't AS terrible, there's more green, the food is fresher and more organic. However, some SF/Bay Area people are among the most arrogant, condescending, unwelcoming, and just downright rude people you'll meet in the U.S. In L.A., you'll find plenty of these on the west side and down in south Orange County, but the rest of that region is populated by folks that a little friendlier and more down to Earth. Sure, it's NOT like Alabama or Texas, but just comparatively friendlier than the Bay. I feel like the Bay Area was probably friendlier 20-25 years ago before mass speculation, tighter environmental and zoning regulations, and the growth of tech started all but eliminating the middle class from the region.

Furthermore, for what it's worth, I heard more "thank yous" from people just on the bike trail, waiting in line at 7-11, at the concession stand, etc. in three days in SoCal than in three weeks in NorCal. People in neither region excel in manners, but it seems like people in the north are worse about it.

I figure that the things I like about the Bay Area, sans cleaner air, I can find somewhere in L.A. So, like I said, the deal was sealed.