Its annoying, because getting the first friend is way harder than getting subsequent friends. In my experience, the best way to make friends is to find some kind of club or hobby that interests me and go to places that host the event.

So, for instance, my neighborhood has a local kickball team. It has a basketball court where people play pick-up games. There's also a beach volleyball place nearby.

A few bars host trivia nights where people just kinda lump into teams and drink and get to know each other.

There's a few nerd stores where people meet up to play minitures games and cards.

All those are great places to just kinda meet people and have an excuse to see each other again with some regularity.