The 10 Friendliest Cities in the U.S.
The friendliest city for visitors is Honolulu, according to more than 6,400 respondents in a newly released poll by Travelzoo.
Survey takers were asked to pick the cities, states and countries where they felt the most welcome, could easily ask for directions, and get dining recommendations. New York City came in second, followed by New Orleans.
Last year was a record-breaking year for tourism, and the numbers confirm the popularity of these destinations for travelers. In 2014, 8.3 million visitors came to the Aloha State, with total visitor expenditures estimated at $14.7 billion. On average, 205,044 visitors are in the state of Hawaii on any given day.
Related: They’re Leaving Las Vegas: Fewer I Do’s in Last Decade
New York City, where tourism also hit a record high in 2014 with 56.4 million visitors streaming into the Big Apple, claimed the second spot in the poll.
Third place New Orleans has 9.52 million visitors and tourism spending of $6.81 billion in 2014. Fourth place Las Vegas also broke tourism records with 40 million visitors last year, thanks to renovated and rebranded resorts and direct flights from Canada and Mexico. Boston rounded out the top five, with a total of 16,250,000 international and domestic visitors in 2014.
Here are the top 10 friendly cities:
- Honolulu
- New York
- New Orleans
- Las Vegas
- Boston
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Charleston, S.C.
- Chicago
- Seattle
Travelzoo also ranked states for friendliness, with warm climes dominating the list. In the top spot was Florida, followed by California and Hawaii. New York and Maine were the only states from the Northeast to make the list.
- Florida
- California
- Hawaii
- New York
- Texas
- South Carolina
- Maine
- Georgia
- Washington
- Arizona
In Europe, Amsterdam, London, and Dublin were considered the friendliest cities to visit, with Italy and Ireland seen as the friendliest countries.
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From Gallup: “A record 25% of Americans say they or a family member put off treatment for a serious medical condition in the past year because of the cost, up from 19% a year ago and the highest in Gallup's trend. Another 8% said they or a family member put off treatment for a less serious condition, bringing the total percentage of households delaying care due to costs to 33%, tying the high from 2014.”
Number of the Day: $213 Million
That’s how much the private debt collection program at the IRS collected in the 2019 fiscal year. In the black for the second year in a row, the program cleared nearly $148 million after commissions and administrative costs.
The controversial program, which empowers private firms to go after delinquent taxpayers, began in 2004 and ran for five years before the IRS ended it following a review. It was restarted in 2015 and ran at a loss for the next two years.
Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who played a central role in establishing the program, said Monday that the net proceeds are currently being used to hire 200 special compliance personnel at the IRS.
US Deficit Up 12% to $342 Billion for First Two Months of Fiscal 2020: CBO
The federal budget deficit for October and November was $342 billion, up $36 billion or 12% from the same period last year, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on Monday. Revenues were up 3% while outlays rose by 6%, CBO said.
Hospitals Sue to Protect Secret Prices
As expected, groups representing hospitals sued the Trump administration Wednesday to stop a new regulation would require them to make public the prices for services they negotiate with insurers. Claiming the rule “is unlawful, several times over,” the industry groups, which include the American Hospital Association, say the rule violates their First Amendment rights, among other issues.
"The burden of compliance with the rule is enormous, and way out of line with any projected benefits associated with the rule," the suit says. In response, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said that hospitals “should be ashamed that they aren’t willing to provide American patients the cost of a service before they purchase it.”
See the lawsuit here, or read more at The New York Times.
A Decline in Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment
Between December 2017 and July 2019, enrollment in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) fell by 1.9 million, or 2.6%. The Kaiser Family Foundation provided an analysis of that drop Monday, saying that while some of it was likely caused by enrollees finding jobs that offer private insurance, a significant portion is related to enrollees losing health insurance of any kind. “Experiences in some states suggest that some eligible people may be losing coverage due to barriers maintaining coverage associated with renewal processes and periodic eligibility checks,” Kaiser said.
