Meeting people in central, southeast and West Seattle

Most of our friendships arrived through work, through raising children, or from a neighborhood where you kept running into the same people. When those things end, the easy way of meeting people ends with them. These are the places in central, southeast and West Seattle where people get together on purpose.

Senior centers

Central Area Senior Center — 500 30th Avenue S, on Leschi bluff · 206-726-4926. Line dancing, food and dining, monthly activities, and a book club on the first Wednesday of every month.

SouthEast Seattle Senior Center — 4655 S Holly Street · 206-722-0317. For adults 50+ in the Rainier Valley: exercise classes, games, education programs, meals and volunteering.

The Center for Active Living (formerly the Senior Center of West Seattle) — 4217 SW Oregon Street · 206-932-4044. More than 40 weekly programs: art, language and history classes, dance, music, chess, cribbage, mahjong, a current-events discussion group, and lunches during the week.

A village

Wider Horizons Village — a membership village in central Seattle where members “get together over food, music, and challenging discussion topics.” Interest groups for movies, artists, travel, poetry and books; get-togethers and field trips that any member can start; and volunteer help with repairs, errands and rides.

Library book groups

Seattle Public Library — Let’s Talk about Books, an informal club where people share what they have been reading, plus El Club Latino in Spanish and a low-vision group. Branches and dates are on the library’s calendar.

Across Seattle

• Next Chapter at The Seattle Public Library — free programs for adults 50+ at branches across the city: arts workshops, talks on housing and retirement, and healthy-aging classes.
• Age Friendly Seattle — the city’s program for growing older well; it hosts a monthly Civic Coffee.
• OLLI at the University of Washington — lifelong learning for adults 50+, $50 a year: courses, talks, field trips, and study groups “designed and led by members.”
• UW Retirement Association — for University of Washington retirees. Its volunteer-led interest groups are Art Makers, Book Review, Birding, Coffee & Conversation and the Hi-Lites Garden Club, and it is “always looking for new interest groups.”
• Seattle School Retirees Association — more than 850 retirees of Washington school districts, meeting over lunch through the year.
• Jewish Family Service — Older Adult Services — programs for connection, including volunteers who visit.
• Seattle Parks and Recreation — Lifelong Recreation — programs for adults 50+ at community centers across the city.

Groups that meet regularly

• Meetup lists groups for people over 50 across Seattle — search for something you enjoy.

When you want the same few people every week

Most of what is listed here is built to bring people together. Far less is built to turn them into friends.

On Longtable, a circle is a small group of neighbors who meet regularly, in person, around one thing they enjoy — a few neighbors near you who share something you love, meeting for long enough that they become people who know you. You can see the circles near you, or start one: say what and when, and let neighbors find it. How it works.