Meeting people after moving to a new city?
Made a burner account for this...
Back in May I graduated and moved to a midwestern city (not Chicago) to work for a F500. I dont know anyone here, all my friends and family are 7+ hours away. I’ve been here 7 months now and still don’t have a single friend or even acquaintance.
I go to the gym, I go on runs, Tinder / Bumble suck out here, and I’m the youngest guy in the office, everyone else is 30+ with kids. I dont know what else to do to meet people, but I’m starting to go crazy.
Anyone else been in a similar situation? What’d you do to meet people or just really keep yourself occupied? I’m starting to lose motivation in all facets off my life.
Go to the state university's gym in the early evening hours. It'll be packed, find a girl to lift with. Use that as an in, maybe don't even lift with her again, but get to know her and go out to the bars n whatnot with her group. Build the social base from there.
I'm in the same boat as you, started in the end of May, youngest person in the office by 6 years.. but I've slowly found a good group of people in similar situations. Just gotta put yourself out there
Find a volunteer group, take a class, go to a church for young people, find an arts group, find a philanthropic org you like. See if your college has an alumni group. See if there a team bar for your favorite NFL team. Join a bowling league. There are lots of ways to get involved. Think about what you like to do and then go find somewhere to do it.
Take things you already like doing (fitness, creative, businesses) and find ways to do them with a community. If you like exercising, say hey to other people lifting. CrossFit and spinning (SoulCycle, Peloton) have this community-building down to an art. If you have creative pursuits, find an IRL community. If you like art, almost all museums have some sort of young patrons board that would be happy to have you. Music is also easy: rent some rehearsal space by the hour (this is surprisingly cheap, like $8-10/hr in Midwestern cities) and chill with some of the people you meet there. That demo is always open to introducing you to other like-minded creatives. Many cities also have entrepreneurial meetups.
Can you share with us what you like to do in your spare time?
Been in a similar situation, like others said above me, take what hobbies and interests you currently have and use them to get involved and meet people. The best way to meet people is to go to events/activities/etc. that interest you. Think about it like this, it's a group of like minded people in one place who already share a common interest with you.. If its lifting, go take a cross fit or circuit class, if its sports, go join a rec league, if its politics, join a political group, etc, etc. You meet a couple people there, they introduce you to their friends, and their friends and so on and so forth. I would recommend doing this for multiple times across a variety of interests. It's not easy and going to be a bit of a challenge at first being out of your comfort zone, but as time goes on you will find a core group you like and continually expand your network out from there. PM me if you have any other questions.
I’ve moved to brand new cities and had to make new friends on multiple occasions in my life. The above suggestions are excellent and I’ve used them to meet new people and make lifelong friends. The additional piece of advice that I’d offer is to strike up a conversation with strangers. I met my best friend in the lobby of a residential building by just saying hi and following up. I have a few good friends that I met in elevator rides. I left a city more than five years ago, but still maintain contact (and am visited by) a friend that I met because they worked behind the bar at a restaurant I frequented and we just chatted every week and eventually started hanging out.
This strategy doesn’t work for everyone. I’ve also received the cold shoulder by countless people - but I just shrug it off and talk to the next person. Definitely don’t force it and try not to be annoying/creepy. But if you smile, are genuinely friendly, and you make enough attempts, you’ll be able to make some new friends. From there, broadening your friend group becomes easy as you continue to meet your friends’ friends.
Whatever you do, don’t give up, and don’t let the situation dampen your mood and happiness.
I second what others had mentioned above plus, Join FB groups of people with similar interests or just anything new that you want to explore with people of the same age. If you're in or near Chicago say hi.
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