Where is the friendliest place to live in the WORLD?

The description of the place you’re wanting to live sounds like Eden or Utopia and I honestly don’t think there is a place anywhere on earth that will measure up to those high standards. Don’t get me wrong, I think it would be great to live in a community like that but I wouldn’t even begin to know where to find it.

It’s very possible that there are beautiful and wonderful places with friendly people (some of the Pacific Ocean island chains perhaps?). As far as a salary to be able to afford to live in such an ideal community, I would guess that it might have to be high.

Japan looks beautiful. As for cheap? Sorry there. Tokyo’s like one of the top few most expensive places on earth.

Perhaps New Zealand would be a good choice for you. Beautiful scenery. And if you find the locals too unfriendly, hey, you’ve always got millions of sheep to make friends with too!

Of course, I think that the USA is a pretty nice bet. NYC seems like a nice place to live. And America has so much to offer.

But if that still can’t satisfy you, I suppose you could always try going mad. Friendly people and beautiful scenery everyday (if you’re lucky).

Tasmania. Just not Launceston. They reckon they’re the capital city but they’re not. Hobart is :)

@Saturated_Brain “NYC seems like a nice place to live” NYC friendly? reaaaaaaaaallly?

You wanna take a left on Wysteria Lane and head straight for Stepford.

lol @cprevite do i sound that weird?

Victoria, B.C. (Canada). The people are lovely and the scenery – gorgeous. Also, you’ll find some good folk in the Maritime provinces of Canada (Nova Scotia, P.E.I, etc) – fjords, the ocean, the land, and the people are the friendliest that I’ve ever met. Anyone who travels there (Canadian, American and those from overseas) says that about them.

@jmah actually now you mention it my health visitor has relatives there and she said to me a couple of months ago how beautiful and lovely the people were… can’t believe I didn’t remember that!!! :-) thank you for jogging my memory!

come to the fatherland!

@uberbatman Well… Part of me thinks that the city has a bad rep. I did read on here that according to a recent study done it’s the American city most likely to return a lost wallet to its owner, so I decided that it can’t be as bad as the media makes it out to be.

Besides, you have people like Grisaille from there. If he’s someone to judge a nineteen million other by, I betcha that they’re quite a nice quirky bunch.

(I’m sure that there’re other NYCers here on Fluther…. Come on…)

In my mind Lynne, you just described Eagle River, Wisconsin. Very friendly locals, very beautiful and not a lot of people. I’ve been ready to move there since I first visited back in 2000. It is also affordable.

(Dang I didn’t see the many people part).

Yeah small-town America seems like a good bet for what you’re looking for.

Of course, the offer of being mad’s still up

Switzerland is very nice, esp. if you were leaning towards beautiful

Disneyland, Anahein, California, USA….The happiest place on earth is also the freindliest…wtf

jonsblond, yes! Minnesota or LaCrosse, Wisconsin area. People are so nice, if you don’t give the two-finger steering wheel wave as you drive by other people, they come by your place later to see what’s wrong. And the river is so beautiful and relaxing that you will wonder what you did for fun before you got a boat.

Stepford.

Two places that I’ve visited that seem like they might fit your bill are New Zealand and Costa Rica. In both, the scenery is really beautiful and the people are great. I think you would want to be fluent in Spanish if you were moving to Costa Rica but there are colonies of English speaking Americans (and probably Brits.) It was recently voted the happiest country on earth in some poll. New Zealand is also great; the people are dynamite (and there wouldn’t be as large a language gap. :-))

@lynneblundell: No not weird at all. I too fantasize about such a place (although my details are a little different).

I would say we’re delusional, but some of the suggestions above sound promising.

of course, being from Boston, overtly friendly people kind of freak me out.

lol…I think overtly friendly ones would freak me out too… I guess my description of friendly needs to be a bit more refined!

East Canada is very friendly. Not really that appealing to me as a place to live though.

Kauai, Hawaii is a beautiful paradise. The locals have treated us like ohana (family). We have very good friends who were born and have lived there all of there lives. On our trips there, they and their friends and family have shown us awesome hospitality and friendship. I wish I could live there!

New York tends to be brusque and impersonal rather than unfriendly. People have places to go and things to do, and they’d rather not get involved with you unless they have to.

To be honest, I don’t think the place you’re looking for exists anywhere. The best you’re likely to do is a large Canadian city where people are impersonal but polite. What I’ve found is that there’s a really fine line between someone who takes a friendly interest in strangers and neighbors and someone who is a meddling, gossiping busybody, and the vast majority of people who appear to be the former are actually the latter.

But then, I am quite happy living in a brusque impersonal Northeastern city.

Sounds like how I picture Alaska! I want to move there! I lived in Louisiana and it’s pretty friendly if you pick the right area. 9 times out of 10 you will get waved at more than ever in Louisiana. They also still burn crosses in front yards in some places. North Carolina is ok! These are the only 2 (N.C. and Louisiana) that I can speak for. I’ve heard Canada is great too!

Any of the Del Webb Sun City communities would meet your requirements. I think a monthly income of $4,000 – $5,000 would probably be sufficient.

Ohio?

Cell Block “D”

Being from Louisiana and still living there, I have to admit we do have some of the friendliest people on Earth here. Cajuns accept and love anyone. After all the reason that we settled in south Louisiana is that no one else would accept us. We were driven from place to place until we came here. We know how it feels to be the outcast, so we are welcoming to everyone. We don’t burn crosses in South Louisiana. North Louisiana is a very different culture as is New Orleans. I am not saying that they burn crosses there either.

Come and visit and you will see what I am saying is the truth!

Iceland would be cool, after the riots calm down. It has a highly literate society, fascinating volcanoes to watch and great seafood.

Here’s my list based on my travels:

Egypt
US
Italy
Spain
India
France
UK
Belgium
Sweden
...

@mattbrowne; if you have ever been to New Zealand or Chile any comments.

@Garebo – Sorry, not yet. My wife loves the Lord of the Ring movies and wants to see the sites of the shooting. And I heard about Chile it’s one of the safest places for tourists in South America.

@mattbrowne: it definitely has appeal to me-red wines, grass fed beef, awesome mountains, a diverse culture and great trout fishing. Highest per capita income in SA too, but I would always worry when the next Junta was going to strike.

I guess I have to hurry than…

In my student dorm in Nuremberg in 1984 my next door neighbor was from Chile and I befriended him. Eventually he told me stories that gave me nightmares. He had been a pro Allende-activist before and after the coup in 1973. He spared me the details about the torture, but what he shared with me was enough… Let’s hope Chile stays a democracy.

Amen

@indonesia :]

There is ONLY one place for you – LAKE TAHOE !!!

@YARNLADY I couldn’t believe my eyes! We lived in Sun City for a year and you are so right. How did you know? The people are super friendly, happy and nice. We moved away because we disliked Georgetown; nowhere to eat. Then the second we left they built a Luby’s cafeteria. Which I love. ))-: There was a kind of “family feel” to the place.

@Aster I have friends and relatives who live in a Del Webb Sun City.

I have gone around the Globe several times in my live, I have traveled excessively and I find the best place to live all the time… but than I find another and another and another,

Here’s my list.
South Africa…some of the people are friendly. Worst health care in the world. The crime is the highest in Africa.
Namibia loves the dessert, people are very friendly, the government is full of shit not easy to immigrate. They don’t want foreigners and too much red tape.
Botswana…It’s the same as South Africa the people are the worst kind you can find…Still hate Botswana…
Swaziland.. .It’s third world at it’s best, in fact if there were a forth world country Swaziland would be it.
Mozambique…very friendly people, very dangerous at some places due to old landmines and high crime.
Congo… stay away….
United States of America well a lot can be said, not enough time to say it.
Britain…everybody is miserable.
Australia…you got to love them. They are all friendly.

The land that time forgot. Friendly natives, invited me to dinner. But neglected to mention that I was the main course.