> Maybe it's because you were raised in the suburban Midwest and feel more
> comfortable there than in an Eastern metroplex?
>
> People in the Midwest are no more friendly than people in the East or
> West or North or any other vague geographic designation.
>
> I moved to the Midwest from NYC and felt the exact same way you did
> initially but it wasn't because people in NYC were friendly than
> Midwesterners.
Well, that's my perspective. Your mileage may vary, especially in California.
On the other hand, remember that I was an alienated proto-anarchist teen when I left the Kansas City suburbs in 1983. My perspective on my Midwest neighbors has shifted a bit as I've gotten older and more mellow. Plus, I can approach the situation as somebody who left the fucking capitalist nightmare that is Johnson County, KS and did something about my ideas.
These things are hard to measure, of course. I met plenty of friendly strangers in Washington, DC and there are neighbors here in Kansas City who won't talk to their neighbors.
Chuck