How to Find Friends Near You in Your Own Town
Whether you have just moved to a new city or you are at college for the first time, it is important to create a circle of social support. Having social support is essential to a happy life. If you are looking for how to find friends near you, these tips and tricks can help.
Look To Your Home Lifestyle
If you are wondering how to find friends near you, you do not have to look any further than your home lifestyle. If you have a fur baby or love to dance at home, dog training classes, dance studios, and other types of classes can be a great place to meet new people. One of the best ways to learn how to find friends near you is to enroll in a class that you are interested in and that supports what you do at home.
Taking a class like a dog training class or classes at dance studios puts you in a position where you will meet people that have the same interests as you. Joining a training program or a class that supports your home lifestyle is a great ice breaker because you and the other people in the class already have something to talk about.
There are tons of classes out there that can be right in line with your home lifestyle. If you love to paint at home, take a class to learn about color theory. If you enjoy gardening at home, then take a gardening class. You will meet people that have the same interests as you. Taking classes is a simple solution for how to find friends near you that have the same home lifestyle.
Look To Your Hobbies
What do you like to do in your spare time? Do you enjoy listening to music? Do you love the idea of being pampered? Then how to find friends near you can be as simple as going to music stores, nail salon manicure, or heading to your local park for a free concert. Whatever hobby you have, there are people in your area that enjoy the same things, you just have to be open to meeting them.
Sometimes you have to take the first step and start the conversation. Part of learning how to find friends near you is learning how to initiate a conversation. There are a lot of people out there that want to find friends but they are too shy to say “hello” and start a conversation. Taking the initiative and opening up the conversation is the first step to finding friends near you.
Most people are receptive to conversations and like to chat. For example, if you are in the nail salon and there is someone sitting next to you, why not inquire about the color they chose or pay them a compliment (make sure it is genuine) about a piece of jewelry they are wearing. These simple acts can open up the door to a meeting for an occasional cup of coffee or a bi-weekly scheduled meet-up at the nail salon. You never know until you try.
Look to Your Local Communities
School, local church, summer camps, civic clubs, and more are all great places to find friends near you. How to find friends near you does not have to be complicated and it does not have to take you out of your comfort zone. For example, your local church is a great place to make new friends because you already have your faith in common.
Most churches offer volunteer opportunities, which is an easy answer to how to find friends near you. Meeting people using volunteer opportunities is a great option. If the church is not your thing, how about joining a civic club? Civic clubs typically have a cause that they support and are always looking for new members.
Whether you are enrolled in school or are a parent with children in school, schools are a great place to meet new friends. Of course, like your local church or civic club, you will need to get involved in school to make new friends. When the question is how to find friends near you, the answer is often right in the schoolyard. Schools are always looking for volunteers, which can be great for a parent that is looking to make some connections. Of course, if you are a student, the best way to make new friends is to get involved in clubs that pique your interest. That is where you will meet people that can quickly become friends.
Look to Your Needs
We all need to eat, get our hair styled, buy new clothes, and tend to other basic needs. If you are looking for how to find friends near you, you can parlay those needs into social opportunities. For example, use your barber shop, outdoor restaurants, grocery stores, and other places as a jumping-off point to find new friends. All people follow a routine. If you start paying attention, you will notice the same people use the same barber shop over and over. It is also true of restaurants and other spaces; the same people frequent the same places. Why not strike up a conversation with someone you notice has been going to the same places as you?
It is perfectly acceptable to make note of the people you are seeing frequently and start talking to them. They see you too. It can all begin with a simple “hello” when you see them. Then, each time you see them again, add a little more to the conversation. Simple questions like “how long have you been coming here to get your haircut, meals, etc.” can open up a doorway right into a new friendship.
Choose a barber shop, restaurant, and other places that fill the needs that you enjoy using, and then keep on going regularly and keep an eye out for other “regulars”. You can meet new friends just by showing up for the things you need.
Look To Your Other Friends
Sometimes the best friendships stem from a mutual friend. If you are searching for how to find friends near you, be receptive when you are out with other friends. Meeting new people through your existing friends is one of the easiest ways to meet new people that could become new friends. There are a host of places where you will gather with your existing friends and where you can meet new people.
Wedding receptions are a great place to mingle and meet friends of your friends. Weddings are usually a hodgepodge of old and new friends and far-flung family members. There are a lot of opportunities to meet new people at wedding receptions that can turn into friendships.
You could always ask your old friends if they have any friends that you may be interested in meeting. Using your old friends as a jumping-off point to meet new friends is a great way to find new friends near you. The world has gotten a lot smaller and people that you know right now are likely to know people in your area that you can make a connection and become friends with.
Look To Your Family Members
Family members can also be a great resource when you are wondering how to find friends near you. Ask your family members if they know anyone in your area to whom you can introduce yourself to. You never know a sibling, or a cousin may know people right in your area that they can introduce you to. Sometimes the best friendships start out with a mutual connection.
If you are interested in making new friends in your area, ask family members if they know anyone nearby whom you can grab a cup of coffee. It can be a great way to open up doors to a new social circle. An old college roommate or someone that a family member is connected to online can be the ideal way to meet new people in the area.
Look Online
Luckily the internet and social media are an easy answer to how to find friends near you. Social media groups are rampant online that focus on specific areas, neighborhoods, and topics that can be an easy way to meet new friends. Join groups of people online that have similar interests as you and that are located in your general area.
You can go one step further and download one of the apps that is focused on helping people meet new friends. These apps are not dating apps, they are apps that are designed to help start friendships. It may be a little strange at first to meet people online and then carry that friendship over into real-time, but it is an easy answer to how to find friends near you.
Of course, you do want to be careful with who you meet in real-time. Take the necessary precautions to stay safe. Meet in a public space, preferably during daylight hours, do not share too much personal information, and always make sure that someone you trust knows where you are and what you are doing. Taking the leap to meet new people can be done safely as long as you follow some basic ground rules.
Look for Ways to Improve Your Health
Oddly enough, improving your health by getting involved in fitness can also be the answer to how to find friends near you. Join a gym, or an amateur running team to find friends that have similar goals that live in your area. You can also join an amateur sports team like a flag football team or a softball team. Getting fit and improving your health by joining other people that have the same mission can help you to meet new friends.
Gyms are a great place to make new local friends. Take a fitness class and engage other people about their fitness journey. When you attend a fitness class, you will see the same people in every class. It will make it easy to connect with people because fitness goals become your common ground. Of course, just showing up at the gym every day will expose you to a host of new people that can become friends.
Look For Ways to Volunteer With Your Political Party
Every county, has both a democratic and republican headquarters and they are always happy to have new volunteers. Volunteering to support your political party is an easy way to make new friends nearby. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities that you can take advantage of that is an easy answer to how to find friends near you.
Volunteering at the local political party headquarters makes it very easy to find friends because you already have the same political views and a common goal in mind. Additionally, most political party headquarters will have “socials” to gather members of the party. The socials can be a coffee meet and greet, or an elaborate event, either way, you will get to meet plenty of potential new friends to choose from. Getting to know the people in your area and choosing who you would like to learn more about is easy when you volunteer with a group of like-minded people.
There are plenty of ways to find new friends that are near you. In some cases, you have to leave your comfort zone and make the first move, in other cases, the relationship will form naturally. In all cases, building a social network will improve your life. Follow some of the suggestions here and you will be on your way to building a social circle that you can depend on.