Perna had some good ideas. It's very hard though. Just because you're around people doesn't mean that a connection will form.

Perhaps a gym? My office-mate talks about people he meets there. I recently took my dog to a gathering I learned about off of meetup.com. Perhaps poking around that site might help you. Volunteering might be the best, but for a person like me, that would be hard.

I think the key is being around the same people in semi-structured environments. For example, a classroom would not be good because there is too much structure. A coffee shop or bar would be equally as bad because of a complete lack of structure. Something like volunteering at the library though would give you a semi-structured task to work on, which allows you to integrate yourself into a group activity. You have some flexibility to act and talk, plus you have the expectation of seeing those people again.

This is all easier said than done of course.