Once we are no longer in school, meeting new friends becomes more difficult. I often hear the question “Where can I meet new people in Olympia?” Here are some places and ideas you can use to go find new friends.

Quick Tips for Making Friends

Before we go over where to meet people, let’s first go over a few tips on how to make friends.

Become a regular somewhere.

The passage of time spent with someone improves your chances of becoming closer to them.

Find common ground with people you meet.

Take people up on invitations to parties and outings.

Tell people about how you feel about things. Open up to them. This makes you more interesting.

about things. Open up to them. This makes you more interesting. Share personal experiences and stories.

Listen to others. Don’t just be focused on yourself.

Invite people to go to an event with you.

1. Get to Know Your Neighbors

I have found that Olympia is much more community focused than any other place I’ve lived. Your neighbors are probably already participating in activities in your neighborhood. Why not go join them and get to know some?

Nextdoor is a social networking website where you get to connect with people in your neighborhood. Olympia has a growing population on Nextdoor and you can find a lot of activities and events going on in your neighborhood from it.

The Olympia Coalition of Neighborhood Associations recognizes over 35 neighborhood associations in Olympia. Check them out, find your association and see what’s going on. Many neighborhoods have events like picnics, meetings, or art projects that you can go to and meet people.

2. At Work

Work is probably the best place to meet people because of how much time you spend there.

Some ideas for making friends through work:

Attend a seminar.

Speak at a conference.

Go out to lunch with a co-worker/acquaintance.

Get together with co-workers after work for coffee or drinks.

Work on projects together.

Meet people in the building next to where you work.

Bring baked goods for others to enjoy. If they think you’re nice, you may get invited to places.

3. Volunteer

Here on Re:Olympia is a list of over 35 places to volunteer in Olympia. Volunteering is almost always a social activity which means it’s a fantastic way to meet new people. You’ll get to know others with the same passions as you. You’ll help make Olympia a better place and feel good about what you’re doing.

4. Go Do Fun Things

There are lots of fun things to go do in Olympia. If you go do them enough, you’ll be sure to meet new people. Here are some ideas:

5. Go Learn Something

Remember how easy it was to make friends in school? Well guess what, you can still go back to school! Here are some ideas:

The Timberland Library is always holding free workshops and classes even for teens and adults. To find out what’s going on there it’s best to go in and check their bulletin boards.

Arbutus Folk School teaches: Woodworking Blacksmithing Ceramics Sewing - embroidering, spinning, draping

Olympia has three letter presses that are willing to teach you how to do it Pope Press The Sherwood Press Community Print

Take a class at SPSCC Birdwatching Art Baking Music Computers Languages, Spanish, Japanese, Sign language



Where is your favorite place to meet people in Olympia? Let me know in the comments below.