How Do We Meet New People?

December 7, 2012 8:19 PM

Wife and I just moved near Centennial, CO and are wanting to meet new people our age. The thing is, she is 29 and I am 38, no children...People I work with are families or older who want to do kid stuff with other couples. We both like movies, games, books, are easy to please and are easy to get along with...don't have a lot of money for high end stuff but would be nice to just get to know some folks. Any thoughts?
posted by anonymous to Human Relations (9 answers total)

There's always the metafilter meetup.
posted by freshwater at 8:53 PM on December 7, 2012

This sounds exactly like my SO and I. We are almost exactly your age and in the same situation. We live in a fairly vibrant small city with diversity, culture, and lots of events to attend in our community, yet we have not made any friends here after almost a year. We live relatively close to midtown/downtown, so we frequent that area a lot. I think this makes it easier to be where the action is. I've joined meetup groups and with varying degrees of success have met some people, but not any friendships yet. My crafting group has been the best one yet - a chance to sit and talk with people, get to know them. But that's geared toward women and only meets 2x/month or so. It's tough. People make friends through their kids (or so it seems to us). We enjoy running, backpacking, hiking, going to the city, picnicking in our local park, yoga meetups. We're certainly not staying at home on the weekends. I've brought this up numerous times out of frustration to my SO. I was unemployed for some months and going to work has been a lifesaver as far as meeting new people, but I still really want to meet other couples our age. He mentioned doing a movie night meetup 1x/month with a projector and inviting people once we have some acquaintances. I think it's a great idea, but we're not really "there" yet. Meetup.com is the best idea I've got so far. I think if we join a group as a couple and find groups that are designed for childless couples who want to hang out with other adults, that would be the ideal situation. Good luck. I'm looking forward to reading what other people post, as I will definitely be keeping track of this thread.
posted by luciddream928 at 11:13 PM on December 7, 2012

"People I work with are families or older..."

IME, this doesn't have to be a deal breaker. My wife and I don't have kids. We moved recently and are starting over a bit, but we spent 14 years in a small, vibrant college town and found affinities with people in all sorts of situations -- older, younger, single, with kids, etc. Pick a few people you like and throw a dinner party.
posted by jon1270 at 1:22 AM on December 8, 2012

A traditional way to do this was to join a church. But you're in Colorado, where the church replacement is outdoor sports. Do you have any interest in skiing, hiking, mountain or road biking, or rock climbing? Groups focused on activities are a good way to meet people.
posted by medusa at 3:59 AM on December 8, 2012

Also, you say you like movies...if you really like movies how about getting involved with the Denver Film Society?
posted by medusa at 4:07 AM on December 8, 2012

Do you like board games? You might try finding a local game store and calling them up to see if they do board game nights.
posted by codacorolla at 6:53 AM on December 8, 2012

2nding codacorolla... and if they don't have board game nights, ask if you can start one.

NearbyGamers is also a good resource.
posted by BrashTech at 7:36 AM on December 8, 2012

My wife and I live in Denver and have started playing Dominion regularly. She works down in your neck of the woods.

Send me a MeMail and we can hang out.

PROBLEM SOLVED!
posted by craven_morhead at 2:17 PM on December 8, 2012 [2 favorites]

If you like arts/crafts and/or sports, The Goodson Recreation Center is a good place to join for classes and meet people. ($50/month unlimited Gym access and individual classes are reasonably priced).

The Arapahoe library district has some excellent libraries with great programs almost every day of the week (Southglenn, Koelbel are really close to Centennial). They also have book clubs with readings frequently. (Free)

http://board-games.meetup.com/cities/us/co/denver/ - you may find some groups worth checking out.
posted by theobserver at 7:19 PM on December 8, 2012