The midwest is truly the nicest place in my opinion in America. The south is nice to your face, not necessarily behind your back. But, there are nice people everywhere I always say. If you are comparing big cities to smaller cities and towns, it is really more about the size of the city then north, south, east, and west in my opinion. My aunt said she slipped twice on ice a few days ago in NYC, and both times people helped her up in the street. Strangers. Just sayin’.
Now, if you want to know where the term southern hospitality comes from…the way I learned it was back in the old days when the south was very rural, with very few places to stay, no hotels around for 100’s of miles, plantations would have a small bedroom attached to the house, with a separate door, and no way into the main house from the room. This door was left unlocked for travelling sales people, and other men who found themselves needing lodging for the night. It was understood that they could sleep there, and then in the morning would pay for the stay. Many times the gentleman was welcomed into the home, offered breakfast, and instead of being charged a fee, was asked to share the news from other parts of the country, since news from far away places was hard to come by in rural areas. So, southerners were considered to be very hospitable, and the hospitality industry refers to lodging. The end :)