Try a coffee shop!
Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?
321–330 of 585 posts
Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?
#322I found my people at my local climbing gym. I live in a very tech-dominated city and the people at the gym break down into
1. people who work in tech
2. people who work in the medical field
3. students
and the gym caters to that. I've met some great people on the bouldering wall, at yoga classes, or at events hosted by the gym.
Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?
#323You asked, so I'll tell you: My local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. https://jw.org . I've never been happier in my life, and the sense of purpose, community, and security has never been higher. I won't espouse any religious teachings here, that's what the link above is for should you choose to visit it. The most amazing part is that it's genuine and trustworthy. It's all made of imperfect humans to be sure, bu…
[dead]
Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think volunteering gets brushed off because in many places it is just a pure scam. The organizations collect money and then charge volunteers exorbitant sums for the privilege of working for free. I looked at volunteering about 15 years ago and from what I saw then, I have never entertained the thought again.
>The organizations collect money and then charge volunteers exorbitant sums for the privilege of working for free. Huh, they charge volunteers to work for free? Why would anyone ever do that?
I work at a sports program that charges volunteers, but that’s because it’s set up as a coop. Everyone has to donate time and money to use the facilities. The fee is really small compared to what you get to, 1/5 of comparable facilities.
It’s an amazing program, too. No one involved would ever call it a scam IMO.
Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?
#325My neighborhood. When we moved in we sat out front every evening, and made small talk with every single person who walked by. Some were caught off guard, some kinda just waved and moved on, but most stopped to talk. What's interesting is that people who had lived in that neighborhood nearly 20 years together had never talked, and met for the first time as both stopped to chat at nearly the same time. Then we started…
It's sad that modern American yards are so unfriendly to sitting in your front yard, but that can be easily fixed, even within the boundaries of over-zealous HOAs or towns. Just make a cute little "gate" (it doesn't even need the gate) with flowers at the end of the walkway near the sidewalk, and add in a table and some chairs (or move them out when you go to sit). Being at the sidewalk vs being 20-40 feet away on a…
There's a rented row cottage near my office where the front fence is made from timber pallets, and appears like a bar with built-in succulent plantings. The tenants at the time used to drag out stools and sit there and chat like it was a wine bar.
We've put seats out on our front porch with a view to one day remembering to actually sit on them. So far, it's just the neighbourhood cats snoozing there when the sun hits the right spot.
Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?
#326Volunteering. And before you brush it out skeptically, like "oh yeah right, those people", it really doesn't have to be anything you don't care about. I volunteer at a boat house on the city lake nearby, just putting kids on pedal boats and kayaks. I don't even call it volunteering, I just love kayaks and water. It's amazing how your perspective of time and people and service shifts, when you spend some time being "i…
How did you find that role? Also, are the people a similar demographic as yourself
Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?
#327Meetup groups! I live in Portland Oregon and there are so many awesome board game meetups. I also tend to like hacker spaces but they can be less social and you aren’t guaranteed to have personal interaction
Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?
#328My neighborhood. When we moved in we sat out front every evening, and made small talk with every single person who walked by. Some were caught off guard, some kinda just waved and moved on, but most stopped to talk. What's interesting is that people who had lived in that neighborhood nearly 20 years together had never talked, and met for the first time as both stopped to chat at nearly the same time. Then we started…
Yes this exactly. I threw a block party last year and the community loved it and most were like "you know we haven't had one in years."
A year later and we've found lost dogs, gotten people employed and I have some of the best and strongest relationships in years - and my kids have a ton of others to hang with of all ages (7-15)
When in hard times, build Communities not bunkers
Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?
#329Volunteering. And before you brush it out skeptically, like "oh yeah right, those people", it really doesn't have to be anything you don't care about. I volunteer at a boat house on the city lake nearby, just putting kids on pedal boats and kayaks. I don't even call it volunteering, I just love kayaks and water. It's amazing how your perspective of time and people and service shifts, when you spend some time being "i…
Definitely this. Volunteering is an awesome way to develop community. I struggled to make friends in a new community where I was working remotely for years (pre-COVID). I finally really started connected with people my second season being involved with a youth sports program. 6 years later, we just had 50 people over to our house. 30 of them were connected to that sports program in some way.
Re: Ask HN: Where have you found community outside of work?
#330Bumble BFF is where I found my way into a local queer women's bookclub that also a is a space to form ad hoc meetups, do hikes, and generally make friends. Discord is another, oddly enough. The story is a bit messy, but there was an "offical" server attacked to a subreddit for my location (think r/ ). That was, frankly, a terrible server, but I eventually found myself migrating onto a splinter server with a few other…
I tried bumble bff as a guy, and it was just gay men trying to sexually assault me.
Thanks for the heads up