themoz

Hey yall!

Early 20's moved fom the Big Apple for a 1st post college job. Never been to Connecticut much before believing it was more of a rich mans place, but ive certainly changed my perspective looking for aprts in bidgeport an waterbury!

Moved to the Valley area as a good compromise of value yet being close to my job, but starting to run out of things to do....especially by myself.

Are there good places to meet people round my age? both for friends to hang with and for dating? Not really sure how to meet new people without knowing another social group.


Also, any cool places that would be good solo to do on a reasonable budget?

Sorry for any typos: writing on my new tablet i got for myself. thanks!

dfrostnh

You might try meetup.com to find a group with similar interests. This is not a dating service. I found a gardening group. In my area there are groups for hiking and kayaking. Join a book club. Sometimes the local library sponsors one. Is there a listing of club meetings in a local newspaper? Best wishes.

emalloy

Good advice from dfrostnh. Decide what interests you and look for groups that participate in similar activities. Google to find the meeting sites nearby.

Ask the people at your new job what is available.

abram

Ski Clubs often do lots of things other than skiing and have purely social events.

Fra_Diavolo

Quite a few younger people working in downtown Stamford. A lot of the social life seemed to revolve around the apartment complex's pools. You'll find an artier, more bohemian crowd in South Norwalk, which has a lot of small shops, bars and restaurants.

If you are at all the outdoors type there are mountains and rivers in the northwest part of the state offering good hiking, canoeing etc. Some of the towns to visit are Kent, Salisbury, Cornwall and West Cornwall, Litchfield . . . definitely an area to explore. You're near the southern Berkshires of MA there, too. You'll find groups like the Appalachian Mountain Club and ConnYak http://www.connyak.org/default.htm, a very active kayak club, which will offer a lot of social opportunities.

If you're more the cultured type you might have to work harder, thereabouts. I think the above advice about local libraries is a good place to start. They'll usually have information on theater groups, art exhibits, etc. Check your local newspaper. Consider trips to New Haven and Hartford.

Good luck!

themoz

I've looked at Meetup, but it seems to be mostly for people over 30. I know its silly, but I'm not sure if I would feel comfortable in making friends too much older than me. Experience gap is big, and I'm not the most mature individual when hanging out. My work is pretty secluded. There's just a few employees, and all are about my parents age.

I'm far from an artsy type, and although I enjoy the outdoors, I know next to nothing ABOUT outdoorsy stuff, especially things like mountains or sking. Think I'd be scared sh!tless about it if I tried.
the biggest problem for me with meetup is that my hobbies are more introspective. My hobbies are writing, tinkering, and learning (watching college lectures and re-learning coding to design apps, learning piano). They're not really group activities.

I would like to maybe do Improv, but I'm honestly terrible at it.
Most of the things I did with groups were hanging out stuff.


personally, I'm more of a nerd. in college, my hangout buds were all nerds of one form of another. Not big into gaming, though (especially online stuff), though board games can be cool.

Fra_Diavolo

Connecticut has quite a few community colleges, most of which offer continuing ed classes in languages, art, writing, etc. See if there is one near you offering something you'd be interested in. http://www.commnet.edu/

PS -- those CT mountains are not very scary, just day hiking stuff.

dfrostnh

There should be some writing groups around. Our local paper lists some. Perhaps so close to the city, the newspapers don't print local events. Keep looking and considering things you might want to learn or try. Attend author lectures and music events even if you have to go by yourself.

Sorry, no sympathy about the age difference. The first meetup group I attended was hosted by folks young enough to be my kids. (Kid is 34.) One had been in DS's class and I find her extremely interesting and knowledgeable (she led a wild foods walk).
Perhaps you should try a Toastmasters group (international public speaking clubs) as a way to get over shyness and meet some new people. You can attend free as a guest. I needed to brush up on public speaking skills and found listening to others' stories fascinating. Maybe you would like to be a story teller (there's a national association of guilds).

Start looking around at volunteer opportunities. You might be able to exercise dogs at an animal shelter, tutor a child, be a docent at a museum, usher at a community theater. Do not cross something off the idea list simply because it might be the wrong age group or might not be an obvious way to meet people. At your age, you are probably going to discover a new interest that you simply haven't encountered yet. Comunity ed classes are a great idea.

Rebo

I just moved from CT. I'm about to come back and move the rest of my stuff out. It takes a while to get the hang of things.

List your interests. I'm sure people can tell you about events, classes that might apply. It can get lonely if you don't find yourself doing things.

Some of my best friends I met at a park (not a dog park) walking my dog out in the woods. Farmer's Markets are fun.I love Topmost Herb Farm in Coventry. I'm an artist, so I enjoy galleries, shows, doesn't have to be high end. West Hartford is good for window shopping, Coventry has a couple of auction houses with antiques, Collinsville is a quaint and progressive little town north.

New Haven is a great place to hang out as are some of the bigger cities near Hartford.

Give us more details and we can give you more.

lincasanova

If you are at all interested in improving your presentations and public speaking, look into the Toastmasters groups. A nice variety of mostly professional people of all ages attend.

emalloy

For things to do, go to

www.ctvisit.com

There are groups that do hikes with Audubon, and also Appalachain trail groups.

Volunteer at the local food pantry, library, etc.

Gretchen

I have no real idea,but you will need to get out of your house/apartment!! The idea of volunteering somewhere is good for a lot of reasons--your interests, and interacting with people. You have a LOT of good ideas in the posts. I'll also mention church/lectures/etc. You can meet like minded folks there. Sometimes even Starbucks.

330east

You might want to do what many Connecticuters do and that is become a fan of UConn Sports. UConn Huskies.com or
The Boneyard
or go to games in Storrs, E. Htfd (Rentschler field)

330east

If you end up near New Milford there is the Merryall Community Center