One Of America's Friendliest Neighborhoods Secretly Hides In The Heart Of The 'Rudest City In The US'

Miami, Florida, takes on many titles. It's one of America's best cities for nightlife, and it docks the world's largest cruise ship, which has broken records and redefined luxury at sea. While this prestige gives the tropical paradise a sparkling reputation, it was also deemed the rudest city in the U.S. in 2024 by language tutoring company Preply. Although this taints Miami's nearly spotless track record, a home décor company, Hastha Kalalu, is covering up the city's blemishes. The company zeroed in on Brickell, naming it the seventh-friendliest neighborhood in the U.S. in 2025. It sounds like an anomaly for the friendliest locale to be pinpointed in the rudest municipality, but inside every bad egg seems to be a heart of gold.

The language academy surveyed residents based on social behaviors, whereas the home décor company looked more at neighborhoods' living standards. Preply was more people-based, asking residents to rank their neighbors on their self-awareness, body language, loudness, and even hygiene. The Magic City ranked 9.88 out of 10 in rudeness and performed especially poorly when it came to lack of awareness in public, loudness in shared places, and impoliteness to service staff members. Preply didn't give specific numbers, such as how many people were surveyed per city, but Hastha Kalalu did. It based its findings on facts rather than opinions and derived data from national organizations based on household income, crime rates, and cost of living. From this data, it found that Brickell is one of the friendliest spots in the country.

Hastha Kalalu used data from organizations such as the U.S. Census Bureau and the real estate website Zillow to compare and contrast neighborhoods around the country. From population density to family households and violent crime rates, each category weighed 20% to determine its findings. Brickell's overall "friendliness" score came out to 59.13, which can be partially due to over 40% of residents living in a family household. The neighborhood is also significantly above the national median household income of $80,610 reported by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2023; Brickell stands at $125,500.

While you may think small towns in Southern or Midwestern states would have swept the list, a representative for Hastha Kalalu told Time Out that a friendly community is more than just nice people — livability matters, too. While Brickell has a high median household income, the city is accessible even without a vehicle. Many residents on Reddit say that in Brickell, convenience is valued and you can get around easily on foot. If you're heading to the area, you can at least be saving money on car payments or rental car fees.

Brickell is Miami's heartbeat, where all the action happens. It's a short 20-minute drive from the Miami International Airport, adjacent to downtown. You can head to Brickell City Centre, a four-story mall with dining and shopping, and there are swanky rooftop bars in this area, such as Rosa Sky Rooftop & Lounge. In the evenings at Rosa Sky, you get luxurious panoramic views of the city, with all of the skyscrapers illuminated behind you, as you hold a cocktail with a rose-shaped ice cube inside. It's also a short drive to another scenic, open-air waterfront mall with dining, shops, and entertainment in Bayside Marketplace, where the NBA's Miami Heat play.

If you want to find some peace in the bustling town, you can take a leisurely stroll at Simpson Park or walk along the Underline – a 10-mile linear trail underneath the Metromover, Miami's public transportation rail. The community also gets together to exercise as part of the Brickell Run Club, further adding to the "friendliness" of the town. There are other friendly neighborhoods in big cities, too, including one of the friendliest neighborhoods in New York City, a state notoriously known as "rude."