

Ask HN: How do I find a hacker roommate in NYC? - zackattack

Moving to NYC to take a job, and would like to find a hacker roommate. I have a whole email written out describing myself in case anyone here is interested, but can anyone else recommend a way to find a nice, compatible, like-minded roommate?
======
spitfire
Why not find a normal one? You can expand your horizons and make new friends.

~~~
zackattack
I really want to be around positive people who can serve as social
reinforcement for my values.

~~~
camccann
What really matters is being around people who are active and creative. The
specifics of what they work on, a minor detail.

~~~
zackattack
I disagree. I was in a fraternity in college and while it was a GREAT time to
expand my horizons (I didn't party much in high school) I received almost no
social support for my entrepreneurial/hacker tendencies. Most of it was
mocked. So I learned valuable social skills and how to persevere without
social support but imagine how effective I'd be if I had social support.

~~~
camccann
Yeah, but what kind of activities were you involved with in the fraternity?
Partying and athletics are _active_ certainly, and enjoyable, but not
_creative_.

You want people who are motivated primarily to _make things happen_. As with
what evandavid said, people with artistic interests or who are engaged with a
professional career are good, but anyone with a hobby that's more creative
than "going out drinking" and more active than "playing videogames" fits the
bill--even that guy who spends thousands of dollars hand-crafting historical
costumes and goes to a renaissance faire every other weekend is actually out
doing something.

The important part is that, at least in my experience, people who are
motivated, creative, and actively engaged with what they're doing will (even
if only implicitly) support and encourage that mindset in each other, even
with widely divergent interests.

------
dzlobin
<http://groups.google.com/group/nyyc>

This is the group for our NYC HN meetups. Send a group email out and if you
have a chance the meets are every last Thursday of the month. Good luck!

------
blackguardx
Craigslist. Create an ad or browse a bunch of them. I found a cool roommate
with similar interests that way.

------
bhousel
You could try to contact meetup organizers or user groups in NYC for whatever
it is that you do..

