Lexington, Kentucky, where I live, is the most friendly city in the U.S., according to a survey by Conde Nast Traveler [1] of its readers.
As a Lexington resident, I consider it a friendly place to live, not just a friendly city for tourists to visit.
Lexington is blessed to receive numerous visitors, as well as lots of outsiders moving into the city.
Lexington is home to Kentucky's top public university, the University of Kentucky. The city is located at the intersection of two major interstates (I-75 and I-64). Furthermore, Lexington attracts large numbers of visitors for its world-famous horse industry.
Horse Capital of the World
Lexington offers much. It calls itself the Horse Capital of the World. Indeed, the city contains several beautiful horse farms, the Keeneland thoroughbred race course, the Red Mile trotter race course, and the Kentucky Horse Park.
However, persons like myself who lack much interest in horse racing or horse farms find many other appealing things here.
My Love for Lexington
I was born and raised in small towns in southeastern Kentucky. But I came to Lexington in 1976 for college at the University of Kentucky and fell in love with the city.
Parks, libraries, museums, and the numerous events one expects in a college town are part of the appeal.
The Tripadvisor website [2] lists hundreds of things to do in Lexington. I wrote a few reviews on that website myself. I'm confident you'll find things listed that appeal to you.
With over 300,000 people, Lexington is large enough to offer much, but small enough to avoid the anonymity of most big cities
Below is a photo of the Lexington city Christmas tree. You're welcome to call it either a Christmas tree or a holiday tree, but most of us seem to choose the former. A tree-lighting ceremony and Christmas parade are among the city's numerous annual events.
I do like the Lexington friendliness that doesn't seem to be as common in most larger cities and is probably lacking in many smaller ones.
This makes it a special place. However, I haven't traveled enough to judge how Lexington's friendliness ranks compared to other cities in the country.
Indeed, folks are probably friendlier in some small towns I grew up in. But life and friendliness in small towns are different than in cities.
I do definitely consider folks in Lexington friendly. Residents and the city government both do much to help the homeless, to support charities, and to help visitors and newcomers feel welcome.
Indeed, many Lexington residents came from small towns. We seem to have brought our friendly, small-town atmosphere with us to some extent.
More About Lexington
The city is home to a diverse group of places of worship for various religions. But Lexington is welcoming to those who are not into traditional faiths. The city is blessed with diversity and tolerance.
Due to its history of having horse farms, tobacco farms, and other farms, Lexington contains much greenspace. Few cities contain as much farmland and other preserved greenspace as Lexington.
I enjoy bicycling the scenic multi-use Legacy Trail, which is several miles long and includes areas near some farms.
Lexington is in Fayette County, Kentucky. Actually the city and county are merged together as one governing entity.
All of Fayette County is part of Lexington, including some beautiful rural farmland. This merger of city and county is one reason for the city containing so much beautiful, scenic land that lacks city-style structures on it.
The city of over 300,000 people is still small enough that the county sheriff's office provides escorts for funeral processions that stop traffic at intersections.
Final Thoughts
I'm happy and honored that my city earned the friendliest U.S. city title from Conde Nast Traveler.
The magazine's readers each enjoy their own reason(s) for their votes. And the Conde Nast Traveler survey is not a scientific study. But I'm hoping its results are reasonably accurate, not due to some form of ballot stuffing or other bias.
In my possibly biased opinion, Lexington is a great city to visit and to live.
ENDNOTES:
[1] Morton, Caitlin; "The 10 Most Tourist-Friendly Cities in the U.S. According to Our Readers"; Conde Nast Traveler; posted November 20, 2025, with the gallery updated later; webpage accessed January 12, 2026; https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/2015-08-11the-2015-friendliest-and-unfriendliest-cities-in-the-us
[2] "Top Things to Do in Lexington"; Tripadvisor; webpage accessed January 12, 2026; https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g39588-Activities-Lexington_Kentucky.html
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