How to make friends in the Capital Region 🤝

Happy Monday, Capital Region! Today, we’ve got 12 awesome ways to meet new people—sans drinking. And check out our Home of the Week 🏡 a totally off-the-grid charmer on 13+ acres.

—Phat X. Chiem & Karley Sullivan

12 ways to make friends in the Capital Region 🤝 

We’ve all heard of the loneliness epidemic. People are lonely in America, and getting lonelier every year. Making friends as adults isn’t always easy—especially if you’re working all of the time.

Since we’re all about “the best dam news you can use” here at The 518, we put together this list of a dozen awesome places to meet new people around the Capital Region. None of these involve going out to bars.

🏃‍♂️ Join a run club, make connections and get your cardio in, too! We profiled local running clubs here. In Albany, check out Sunday Run Club and Cap City Runners.

🚴‍♀️ Social cycling clubs are super fun. We wrote about Albany Social Cycling just last week. There’s also Troy Social Cycling and Saratoga Social Cycling.

🏐 Empire State Kickball offers adult leagues in kickball, volleyball and cornhole 😂 Likewise, Club Waka Albany has leagues in all of these sports, plus bowling, flag football, soccer and dodgeball.

🥏 Albany Ultimate is the ultimate frisbee club for the greater Capital Region with leagues for women, men, youth and mixed teams.

🎲 The gaming community is very welcoming. Check out the events at Bard & Baker in Troy if “nerdy meetups” are your thing 🤓 The Capital Region Game Enthusiasts group on Meetup.com is also quite active.

 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Btw, Meetup.com is an awesome place to find your tribe. There’s something for everyone. Just search for your hobby or interest.

🥌 Break the ice with new people at the Albany Curling Club or the Schenectady Curling Club. Imagine the meet cute story you could tell!

❓️Think you have all of the answers? Join a trivia night and meet other smart folks. Here’s an excellent list of trivia nights around the Capital Region. OK, most of these do involve going out to a bar (but no one says you have to drink!) 😅 

👩‍🦰 Young people in the Capital Region probably complain the most about not being able to make friends. This new Facebook group called Albany NY 20s & 30s Community tackles that problem together.

🤣 Join an improv class at Mopco! There’s nothing like bonding over stage fright.

💆‍♀️ Girls Upstate touts itself as the Capital Region’s No. 1 wellness community for women. They’re throwing a co-ed Coffee Party in Troy on May 5th.

👩🏾 The Junior League of Albany is also an all-women’s club, but more focused on social activism.

This list is just the beginning! We’re gonna make it our mission to end the loneliness epidemic, at least here in the Capital Region 💪 

“You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” –Pooh

Spring continues to wake up hungrily 😋 Look forward to more balmy t-shirt weather on Wednesday and Thursday, with temps cooling into the weekend after showers on Friday.

🤱 Nearly a year after passionate community advocacy and a last-minute multi-million dollar grant from NYS saved the Burdett Birth Center, the numbers speak for themselves: C-section rates are 10% below both state and national averages, the preterm birth rate is 50% lower than the national average, and 768 babies were welcomed into the world at Burdett in 2024 alone. File this under ‘delivering good news.’ [News10]

🧒 The 518 Play Academy, opened in Perth Plaza less than a month ago, is already buzzing with kids enjoying its ball pit, trampoline, twisty slides, and more. Designed for kids 10 and younger, the indoor playground costs $20 for 3 hours of play—and grownups are encouraged to join in. [Daily Gazette]

🍪 In case you missed it, Insomnia Cookies opened its first Capital Region location last week in Schenectady. The concept is super fun—late-night delivery of warm cookies. Yes, please! Nocturnal Cookies is a local chain with a similar concept. [Albany Business Review]

Ready to trade it all for mountain views and starry skies? This unique 13.46-acre, totally off-grid retreat comes with a pond, sunlit 1-bedroom main house with valley views, and a cozy second cabin with a loft, wood stove, and mini kitchen. Main house includes a ready to use washer/dryer in a utility room with super cute zebra wallpaper, tankless hot water system and propane hot air furnace. Both homes run on solar power with backup generator and well water, but there’s no septic system.

The deets: 2 bd, 2 ba, 920 sf, 13.4 acres. Asking: $175,000. Days on market: 21. See the full listing here.

Our full weekend roundup publishes on Thursday! Keep an eye on your inbox.

🥟 Everybody is Polish on Dyngus Day 🇵🇱 Join the fun TODAY, starting at 3p, for live polka music, Polish food platters and specials on Polish beer 🍺, at the Hill Beer & Wine Garden in Troy.

🍽️ Clifton Park Restaurant Week kicks off today and goes through Sunday.

🍸️ It’s Martini Monday at the Larkin Hi-Fi. $10 for all martinis!

🌎️ Tuesday is Earth Day. Join the Downtown Albany BID for an Earth Day Cleanup.

🧪 On Wednesday, Science on Tap returns to Common Roots in South Glens Falls. Holly Ahern, biology and microbiology professor at SUNY Adirondack, will dive into “Tiny Bug, Big Problem: Ticks and the Diseases They Carry.”

📚️ Also Wednesday, the New York Writers Institute invites you to hear acclaimed historian Brenda Wineapple talk about her new examination of the famous Scopes “Monkey” Trial, as detailed in her book, “Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial That Riveted a Nation.”

Also, on Thursday, climate and travel writer Porter Fox talks about his new book, “Category Five: Superstorms and the Warming Oceans That Feed Them.” Find info on both events here.

🍽️ Thursday is the 22nd Dining Out for Life. A portion of proceeds from every meal or drink goes toward helping support people with HIV/AIDS. See participating restaurants here.

🍺 The 12th Annual Night at the Brewseum features craft brews, spirits and good food, at the Canfield Casino.

📷️ This Saturday, The Green Lodge opens for Agitation, a photo show featuring Owen Barensfield, Tara Holmes and Allison DeBritz.

Speaking of photography, you can still sign up your media-obsessed teen for summer classes at UAlbany with Allison. Options include: Portfolio Prep Class | Darkroom Photography | Digital Collage

🏳️‍🌈 A Big Gay Market returns to Washington Park on Sunday.

🖼️ On view: Albany Public Library and Opalka Gallery present an Art at APL Exhibition "Repeat Play: “The Art of Pattern" through May 10 at the Albany Public Library, Pine Hills.

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Got an awesome business, event or personality we should feature? Let us know! Contact: [email protected]