Making Friends in Western Washington (Seattle, Tacoma: college, pros and cons, quality of life)

[Pittgal]

We moved here 5 months ago and I still don't have any friends yet here either. We are in our mid-thirties with no children yet so its hard to make friends without having your kids to meet people through. I do not work and find myself wishing I had someone to chat with other than on the phone. This is such a hard place to meet people unless you work out of the home. A book club or bunco group would be great, if anyone knows of one in the Issaquah area I would love that!

[lady_jet]

Making friends in Seattle or many of the cities there is hard, but it can be done. Best places to make friends? Walk around Greenlake or by the waterfront trails or even at Shilshole Bay on their trails. Go to the beaches in summer or even in spring or fall and walk the beaches or go get a rust errrr...I mean tan...and talk to people. Take a class or classes at local community colleges in something you enjoy. Making friends is just like finding a boyfriend or girlfriend...

Personally, I'd steer clear of bars and lounges though as you'll find some alcoholics who are not good friend options. So, not a good place to find a lot of good friends, though I'm sure you can find some friends there as well.

Do you have a dog? Go to dog parks or places where people go with their dogs a lot (usually around the beaches like Shilshole or Alki). I lived in Seattle for 20 years and I'm sure that's not changed.

There are a lot of fiber arts (knitting, dyeing, felting, crocheting, spinning or weaving) groups in Seattle. Those are always great. Check out Weaving Works in the U-District of Seattle, Tricoter in Madison Park, etc. There are even some yarn stores downtown in the Pioneer Square area.

What do you do for work at home? Check out others who are self-employed at home. Are you SAHWM (Stay at home working mom)? If so, there are groups there as well. If you're a SAHM, same thing. If you do work that people can benefit from locally, then I'm sure you can find a group. You can also post a notice in the Seattle Times/PI, The Seattle Weekly, or the Stranger (many types of Goths, alternative lifestyles, etc.). If you're not straight, there's the Seattle Gay News, The Stranger, The Seattle Weekly, etc. You can find craft friends through the Country Register.

You'd be surprised. If you're of a Christian bent, then there are many flavors of churches around.

What city do you live in?

[klpeake]

I almost forgot about this website that my friend invited me to years ago. It's called friendster.com and you can look up people based on age, area and also people can put in postings that they are looking for female *friends* or people to go do activities with. It might be worth checking out.

[compltlyme]

Jet check your PM and thanks for the link Klpeake!

[klpeake]

One more thing about Friendster... there are a lot of freaks on there, so be careful and watch out.

[compltlyme]

Originally Posted by klpeake

One more thing about Friendster... there are a lot of freaks on there, so be careful and watch out.

ohhh sure now you tell me!!!

[klpeake]

Originally Posted by compltlyme

Jet check your PM and thanks for the link Klpeake!

Hey Kitty Kat! ;-)

I never got any thing in my PM??? Are the PM's monitor'd on CD? What a joke. If you want you can IM me on yah.... with the same ID.

[compltlyme]

Originally Posted by klpeake

Hey Kitty Kat! ;-)

I never got any thing in my PM??? Are the PM's monitor'd on CD? What a joke. If you want you can IM me on yah.... with the same ID.

The PM for for Jet and the Thank you for you!!! Ane you can IM me too same ID as this one on just about any messenger!

[compltlyme]

Originally Posted by Pittgal

We moved here 5 months ago and I still don't have any friends yet here either. We are in our mid-thirties with no children yet so its hard to make friends without having your kids to meet people through. I do not work and find myself wishing I had someone to chat with other than on the phone. This is such a hard place to meet people unless you work out of the home. A book club or bunco group would be great, if anyone knows of one in the Issaquah area I would love that!

Hey Pitgal...get ahold of me... I think we are pretty close to being neighbors!!!

[NWLambear]

I guess I'm a PNW...although a transplant from S.D., CA. Husband and I retired here. Live in Ferndale, WA and love it. You'll find the good and the bad anywhere in the country. It's just that "good" are also broken down into the "socials" and the "nonsocials" if you want to use those terms. There are some in our neighborhood who like constant social interaction...and thats quite alright....my husband and i keep more to ourselves (sort of)...but we watch out for our neighbors....as they do us....we are there if someone needs help. My husband started a neighborhood watch....and has contacts with local authorities...so neighbors call him with questions....or if they need help. I guess some of our neighbors think we are "unfriendly", but the ones who know us...know our style and respect us for our who we are. My husband assisted the authorities to cleanup a problem site on our street (tons of junk cars and illegal meth actions....which it turned out the authorities knew about....and with my husband's help....the junk cars are gone...the the illegal activities have cessed...oh yes...and the people involved are gone. Our neighbors are very happy!!! Anyway....there is really good advice here about where to look for social interaction and relationship building....so good luck to you. The Pacific Northwest is a very,very beautiful place.

Originally Posted by janb

This seems true to our experience, the friends we can count on are from an earlier life and home, (Colorado, Wyo, NE) this has never really been home. Friendly enough, just not relationship minded.

My best experiences for friends have been from beach camping trips with homeschool families, and Master Gardeners / Orchardists + Farmers. From there you can try clubs that spend considerable time together (mountain / hiking / kayak / photography); then other clubs -quilting, reading, science, investment, volunteering, gardening; Then classes; dance, hobbies, investment,

Another way is to find a 'guest home' directory, and start traveling around. The people who open their homes are typically a friendly and helpful bunch. (even locally, PNW )

The loggers / settlers / tree huggers seem to be pretty proud of their independence, but that can really bite you if you get in a pinch. I'm sure glad the folks in WY would stop for you when you broke down, the PNW'rs have been known to hit you and keep going!! Hopefully more of the exception than the rule There are lots of 'nice' people around, just not too interested in being bothered. Don't hold out too high of expectations for the current era of 'entitlement'.

Most folks haven't gone hungry to feed a neighbor, or been cold to share their firewood, or missed a meal to meet payroll. We're in a different era now. (gimmee's / me-no-wanna)