The Geography of Small Talk

  1. Katherine Wells

How you start a conversation with a stranger depends on where you live.

How you start a conversation with a stranger depends on where you live. We survey the diverse geography of American greetings—from Honolulu to Hays, Kansas, from Anchorage to Appleton, Wisconsin, from New Orleans to New York.



Based on research and writing by Deborah Fallows.

This post originally appeared on The Atlantic.

About the Author

Most Popular

  1. photo: a high-speed train in Switzerland
    Transportation

    The Case for Portland-to-Vancouver High-Speed Rail

    At the Cascadia Rail Summit outside Seattle, a fledgling scheme to bring high-speed rail from Portland to Vancouver found an enthusiastic reception.

    1. Gregory Scruggs
  2. Life

    The ‘Transit-Oriented Teens’ Are Coming to Save Your City

    The 62,000 members of this urbanist Facebook group are doing more than just making weird memes. (But they are making a lot of weird memes.)

    1. Laura Bliss
  3. A photo of a police officer in El Paso, Texas.
    Equity

    What New Research Says About Race and Police Shootings

    Two new studies have revived the long-running debate over how police respond to white criminal suspects versus African Americans.

    1. Brentin Mock
  4. a rendering of a dog park in Chicago's Lincoln Yards
    Equity

    Are Dog Parks Exclusionary?

    In Chicago and other cities, the demand for pet-friendly public space has boomed. But many communities see off-leash parks as heralds of gentrification.

    1. Kriston Capps
  5. A syringe sits on top of a car. Houses are behind it.
    Life

    The Changing Geography of the Opioid Crisis

    A new study shows that the country faces different opioid challenges in urban and rural areas.

    1. Richard Florida
Maps
Click Here
Newsletters
Click Here
Facebook
Click Here
×