By Heather Buono, Harper Reitkopf, and Lily Salembier
How to Meet the Right One
As you probably well know, man hunting can be an enjoyable but sometimes challenging enterprise. That's why, if you want to find guys, you have to go where tons of them gather. Cosmo scouted out the top locations men can be found these days — whether you're looking for a fun fling or a long-term relationship.
Hot spot: The Apple store
The draw: Most guys are natural gadget lovers, and with sales of iPods and MacBooks skyrocketing, more men than ever are stopping by Apple boutiques. The vibe at the stores is conducive to man meeting too: You can check your email among cuties, take a free workshop on anything from Photoshop to podcasting (a great opportunity to strike up a conversation), or just survey the, ahem, good-looking merchandise.
Find it near you: There are 236 Apple stores in 42 states. Check out apple.com/retail.
Hot spot: The weight room in the gym
The draw: According to many gyms, the majority of people pumping iron are men. If you prefer a cardio fix, some classes are seeing an increase in male participants:
- Town Sports International, which has over 150 outposts in the Northeast, says Spinning has the most men of any group class.
- Male Crunch members (there are clubs throughout the country) get their hearts racing in martial-arts classes, such as boxing, capoeira, and jujitsu.
- At Gold's Gym, with more than 600 facilities worldwide, body-pump and boot-camp classes are attracting a rising number of men.
Find it near you: Log on to sportsclubs.com/clubsched, crunch.com/crunch/gyms, or goldsgym.com/gym_locator for gym locations.
Hot spot: A Fortune 500 or tech company
The draw: How's this for a fab job perk? Twenty-two percent of people met their spouses or long-term significant others on the job, according to a survey by Vault.com. But all careers are not created equal, guy-wise. If you're searching for a new position, consider working for either a Fortune 500 company (75 percent of incoming full-time associates at top banks, many of which are in the Fortune 500, are guys) or a tech company (men make up 75 percent of the technology workforce, according to the National Science Foundation). Hint: Once you're in, join the office Super Bowl pool.
Find it near you: Visit hoovers.com for a list of companies. The following Fortune 500 companies have an impressive guy-to-girl ratio:
California: 75 percent of new hires, as of their latest report, at Cisco Systems, an Internet networking business, are male; cisco.com.
Nationwide: At Dominion, an energy company, 78 percent of staffers are male; dom.com. And 70 percent of Hewlett-Packard employees are men; hp.com.
Where the Boys Are
Hot spot: A political rally or campaign
The draw: The hottest political organization these days is the Save Darfur Coalition, which is dedicated to ending the genocide in Darfur, the western region of Sudan in Africa. Stars like George Clooney are getting involved in the movement, and the number of members (read: smart, passionate guys) is rapidly increasing. If you feel fired up for the cause too, check out upcoming rallies, vigils, roundtables, and concerts. Or join a political campaign. The best part: Many senatorial and gubernatorial campaign teams are male-dominated. The atmosphere is intense (you're all working hard toward a goal: the candidate winning), and there's a set end point (the election), which lends itself to a live-for-the-moment attitude that's conducive to love connections.
Find it near you: Visit savedarfur.org/events or electionprojection.com for a list of candidates by state.
Hot spot: A sports bar on Sunday or Monday night
The draw: Now that football season's in full swing, there's no better place to score a touchdown with a guy than on game night at a pub. His adrenaline will be pumping, thanks to the competitive atmosphere, and if his team wins, take advantage of his psyched mood to introduce yourself. (Just don't interrupt during an active play.) Another perk: Unlike other evenings, there are usually waaay more men than women, so the chances of catching your target's eye are better. Want to put even more energy into man meeting? Attend a pro game. (See nfl.com/schedules.)
Find it near you: Sportstavern.com lists sports bars by state. Some to try:
- Delaware: Newark's Grotto Pizza attracts two times as many guys as girls at the bar during football season; grottopizza.com
- Colorado: At the Denver ESPN Zone, a hefty 10 guys to every girl are glued to the TV; espnzone.com/denver
- Pennsylvania: When the Gingerbread Man, located near Penn State, airs the big game, twice as many men as women show up; gmanstatecollege.com
Hot spots: Boston; Paradise, Nevada; and Jacksonville, North Carolina
The draw: Take a trip to one of these cities and just try not to meet a man. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Beantown has the highest percentage of guys who have never been married in the nation (53.6), Jacksonville boasts a whopping 175 single males for every 100 single females, and Paradise has 118 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women.
Find it near you: Log on to cityofboston.gov, paradisenevada.com, or ci.jacksonville.nc.us.
Hot spot: A volleyball league
The draw: Joining a club sports team like volleyball is a great way to get to know a guy over a period of time. Since you play games about once a week, you see your teammates on a consistent (but not too frequent) basis. What's more, the majority of coed volleyball teams have a 60-40 breakdown of men to women, with an increase in male players over the past two years.
Find it near you: To find a listing of leagues in all 50 states, check out the Website volleyballnet.net.
From Java Joints to Steak Houses
Hot spot: A grad-school coffee shop
The draw: Certain grad-school programs are heavily male-dominant (82 percent of engineering degrees, 78 percent of computer-science degrees, and 58 percent of business degrees are awarded to men). The dearth of chicks, combined with the little free time these studious dudes have to play the field, means they're thrilled when you seek them out. So stop by a café near campus during exam time.
Find it near you: Some choice java joints for hottie spotting (they boast a 60 percent male clientele on average):
- California: The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf near the UCLA business school in Westwood Village has a multitude of males; coffeebean.com/locator
- North Carolina: Engineering students at Duke hit up Shade Tree Coffee in Durham; shadetreecoffee.com
- Florida: Business-school students from the University of Miami score a caffeine fix at the Starbucks Coffee directly across from the Richter Library; starbucks.com/retail/locator
Hot spot: A rock-climbing center
The draw: This activity has blown up lately, with 6.7 million Americans scaling the walls in 2005, a 1.6 million increase over 2004. And according to the Outdoor Industry Foundation, which tracks recreational sports trends, nearly two-thirds of wall climbers are male. Plus, it's pretty easy to meet people since the atmosphere is supersocial and charged with excitement.
Find it near you: View indoorclimbing.com for a list of centers in all states or stop by these mostly male locales:
- Maryland: At Sportrock Climbing Center in Rockville, 52 percent of members are men; sportrock.com
- Ohio: Guys account for 60 percent of climbers at RockQuest Climbing Center in Cincinnati; rockquest.com
- Georgia: Atlanta Rocks! Indoor Climbing is also heavily male-skewed; atlantarocks.com
Hot spot: A steak house
The draw: Guys are hitting up steak joints a lot these days for dinner (especially after work or a ball game) and bachelor parties.
Find it near you: The top chains, Outback Steakhouse (outback.com) and LoneStar Steakhouse and Saloon (lonestarsteakhouse.com), have outposts across the country. Other "prime" picks:
- Florida: Miami's Prime One Twelve is a popular place for business guys; 305-532-8112
- Nevada: Delmonico Steakhouse in Las Vegas's Venetian hotel is a man mecca; venetian.com/delmonico
- Illinois: David Burke's Primehouse in Chicago is right next door to a fun lounge; davidburke.com/primehouse.html
