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Chicago would be a pretty good one. A lot of friendly people and you are in an urban setting with people out and about doing stuff all the time. Very easy to join groups, clubs, sports teams, etc.
I second Chicago as a good choice. In the last year, due to changing circumstances, the bulk of my social life shifted over to Meetup, both city and suburban groups. Most groups I joined had many fun, friendly people who genuinely welcomed me, quirks and all. Two of those groups led to closer, more organic friendships; the rest continue to be mostly social calendar fillers.
I'd wager a guess and say New Orleans is good for making friends too. When me and my friends road-tripped there a few years ago, we found the locals to be friendly and welcoming to outsiders. (Except those "I bet I can tell where you got dem shoes" scammers.) Every bar we walked into had a really fun, "Cheers"-like atmosphere.)
When I was younger (early 20's), I also made friends through work. While I enjoyed hanging out with them, and probably still would if we hadn't lost contact, I'm too jaded with the corporate world to make any new work friends.
I think that any city may have people who are cliquish, but the good thing about a big city is there are a ton of people and you don't have to just stay in one area or group. Personally, I'm from New York and I wouldn't say everyone living in the city is cold. Ive made a ton of friends from work and in a couple of yoga classes.
I think in any city, you can start off by hanging out with a few coworkers or going to a bar. You can join a sports club or hobby group. Have a little dinner party at your apartment or something after you've made a few!
I am a bit biased because I was born and raised in Chicago and I would say it is a very friendly city. I'm now living in Ohio and I've found people to be friendly here too.
For the success stories on here, were the friends you made more in their 20s as well or were you making friends with a ton of older people?
In my case, it was people 25 to 50, though different Meetup groups. Granted, I had more in common with people closer to my age, but I got along well with everybody.
How tough would it be to find groups with only people in their 20s?
It's so-so: not completely out of reach, but not that easy. Meetup carries a stigma of being "for socially awkward people", similar to online dating in the 90's. That should change as Meetup goes more mainstream. However, due to the stigma, most younger people (under 25) prefer to meet organically, rather than through the groups.
I don't know of any "only 20's" groups in the Chicago area (the membership base would be too low), although there are quite a few "20's and 30's" ones. That, and interest-specific groups for all ages, like board games or hiking, although they tend to attract an older crowd. Also, unless the group has the word "single" in the name, do not go there to find dates; it's frowned upon both by attendees and by the Meetup corporation.
Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 02-08-2017 at 09:23 PM..
Nowhere on the east coast except NYC. I have never lived there, but having visited several times, I have always found it pretty good socially, i.e. easy to chat people up at bars and whatnot.
Major midwestern cities are probably good too- even the ones smaller than Chicago.
I'm not sure. Meetup didn't exist when I was 25. Plus, my friends at the time were "carryovers" from high school and college. I also had a few friends through my first job. But the old "just go out and talk to people", eh... it's really hard to do without a pre-existing group of friends with you. So I don't know what to suggest to you here. Like you said, it's hard to meet people organically without the social infrastructure of a college campus.
Either way, it's irrelevant now. Meetup stigma is fading out, so that'll be an increasingly viable option for all adults in the years to come. Not to mention, when you hang out with a Meetup group, they become your "pre-existing group of friends", which should give you the confidence to talk to people outside the group.
You can also move to a fast growing city where lots of people are in the same situation. You wil have less barrier to fitting in and making friends because new people is more the norm rather than the exception.
Somewhere where are there a considerable number of transplants and a culture that isn't insular. I lived in Indianapolis for three years and made some friends, but most people were not friendly at all. Small towns in Indiana had far more friendly people.
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