"Meet people in los angeles" splits into "places to meet people", "bars to meet people", "ways to meet people" and "how to meet people in los angeles reddit". Here are all of them, with the honest speed of each, for the visitor with three days and the newcomer with three months, in a city where the drive decides everything.
Places#
The rooms that produce friends are the ones you return to, and in LA they have to be close: run clubs (free, weekly, every neighbourhood), climbing gyms, beach volleyball (Santa Monica, Venice, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa), classes (improv, dance, pottery, a language), volunteering (beach cleanups, food banks, trail days), dog parks if you have a dog, the weekly farmers market (Hollywood on Sunday, Santa Monica on Wednesday), rec leagues. One-off events produce acquaintances who live 40 minutes away; weekly rooms produce friends.
Bars#
Talking to strangers is normal in neighbourhood dive bars, at comedy clubs (bar seats, walk-ins), in the breweries of the Arts District and the South Bay, at the wine bars of Silver Lake and Highland Park, and at the bar of a restaurant. It is not normal in Sunset Strip clubs, at table-service rooftops, or anywhere that sells bottles. Sit at the bar, order something, talk to the bartender first.
Apps#
Friendship apps and dinner-with-strangers apps run here and work slowly, more slowly than in New York, because every meeting costs someone a drive. Use them for the first coffee, near you, and move it to a weekly room.
If you are visiting for three days#
A run club (visitors welcome), a comedy club bar seat, a hostel's events in Venice or Hollywood, a free walking tour Downtown, beach volleyball if you can play, and the fastest version: a Local Friend on Roavi, an Angeleno for an afternoon at a rate they set, who takes you where people actually go and, in this city, drives. Things to do in LA alone has the rest.
If you are here for three months or longer#
Two recurring rooms within 15 minutes of home, every week, from the first month, so they are in place when month two's loneliness arrives. How to make friends in Los Angeles has the detail by age, and moving to LA alone the 90-day order.
The shortcut: an Angeleno, by the hour#
On Roavi you can hire a Local Friend: someone who lives in Los Angeles and spends a few hours with you at an hourly rate they set (most list $15 to $50; LA is near the top), platonic and in public, and in this city usually with a car. Not a tour. You ask the things you cannot Google: which neighbourhood you should have picked, where people your age actually go on a Thursday, which run club or climbing gym is friendly to newcomers, how to do the Westside without losing a day on the 10, and they take you. Roavi lists three Local Friends in Los Angeles today; messaging is free. Rent a friend in Los Angeles has the costs and the honest caveats.
One afternoon with someone who lives here and drives.
Meet local guides in Los AngelesFrequently Asked Questions
Where do people meet people in Los Angeles?
In recurring rooms near where they live: run clubs, climbing gyms, beach volleyball, classes, volunteering, dog parks, the weekly farmers market, rec leagues. One-off events and bars work less than people hope because the drive kills the follow-up; repetition close to home works.What are the best bars to meet people in Los Angeles?
The ones with bar seats and no table service: neighbourhood dive bars, comedy clubs, breweries in the Arts District and Torrance, wine bars in Silver Lake and Highland Park, the bar of a restaurant. Not the Sunset Strip clubs or table-service rooftops.