It's a Lonely World Out There

The New York Times, September 5, 2004

By TAMMY LA GORCE

Laura Occhipinti never had much use for Friday nights in front of the television set. And before moving to North Plainfield in January, spending them that way was not much of an issue because she had been running with the same reliable Bergen County crowd since returning there
after her Rutgers graduation several years earlier. But with relocation -- in her case, to take a job as a caseworker at Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside -- came loneliness.

“All my friends were suddenly an hour away, and it seemed silly to drive all that way just to get a drink or go to a movie,” she said. “But I also found that meeting people my own age was really hard.”

So, this avowed “organizing queen” set about creating her own fun. New Jersey Young Professionals, formed in February through an Internet posting, started with seven acquaintances and has grown to 750 -- mostly 25-to-40-year-old, mostly single, college educated members.

“We get together maybe three or four times a month for karaoke nights, comedy clubs,
bowling, or just coffee at a coffeehouse,” Ms. Occhipinti, 27, said. “But now it’s getting
so big -- sometimes so many people show up for events I have to explain who we are and what we’re doing -- I’m considering splitting it up into chapters.”

People responded for three basic reasons, she says: they have just relocated from out of state, their friends have married and don’t go out anymore, or their friends have all moved away, leaving them friendless.

NJYP’s next get-together is a Sept. 9 happy hour at a site in Somerset County to be announced on the Web site groups.yahoo.com/group/New_Jersey_Young_Professionals/. “It’s split about 50/50 gender- wise, and I know there have been dates,” Ms. Occhipinti said. In fact, when she is not working or updating her NJYP social calendar, Ms. Occhipinti is a host at a speed-dating service. And she is considering a career switch to event planning.