One Of America's Friendliest Neighborhoods Is Secretly Hiding In A Very Popular 'Rude' Texas City

For a city that prides itself on Southern hospitality, it seems like Houston, Texas, might need a refresher on what that really means. A 2022 study by Preply previously named Houston as one of America's rudest cities, specifically highlighting the friendliness (or lack of friendliness) of its locals. However, there is one saving grace that may salvage this perception. Kingwood, a quaint neighborhood in the northern part of the city, was listed as one of the friendliest neighborhoods in the U.S. in another survey conducted by the home decor store Hastha Kalalu.

So, can two opposites really coexist in the same vicinity? For proof, just look to South Florida, where Miami was declared the rudest city in the U.S., but the neighborhood of Brickell was named one of the country's friendliest. In the case of Houston, Preply surveyed over 1,500 Americans in 30 of the largest cities around the U.S. and asked questions about the town's cultural behaviors, such as being noisy in public, not letting people merge in traffic, and closed-off body language. Out of all the cities, Houston ranked 10th for having ruder locals than non-locals. Ultimately, that was based solely on personal opinions, which can correlate to hasty generalizations about the entire city — which is where Kingwood comes into play.

Hastha Kalalu looked at the likes of Zillow and the U.S. Census Bureau to discover how many families live in the neighborhood and gauge the affordability of its housing. It also checked FBI data to assess crime rates. With the help of these statistics, Hastha Kalalu then drew analytical conclusions on the quality of life in the area.

The neighborhood achieved an impressive friendliness score of almost 77%, placing second and even managing to beat out one of the friendliest neighborhoods in the notoriously rude hub that is New York City. Kingwood earned this score thanks to factors such as its popularity with families and average housing costs of just under $334,000. In contrast, the average house value in the whole nation sat as high as $500,000 in the first quarter of 2025 (via Motley Fool), so we can infer that its residents are a lot less financially stressed than most of the country. 

One potential reason why Kingwood manages to be such a friendly neighborhood in a not-so-friendly city is that it's located on the outskirts of town. Kingwood sits over 30 minutes north of Houston's center, where you can find Texas staples for beers and burgers, including the famous Hobbit Cafe. Although far from the bustling city, it's only about 20 minutes north of the George Bush Intercontinental Airport and boasts an abundance of greenery, with the Greenbelt Trails offering over 75 miles of trails. It seems the trick here is to go north rather than south for a more pleasant and wholesome experience.