Getting involved in community is also key to developing relationships. Too often people expect it to "just happen", without putting any effort into it. This is true for larger cities or smaller ones like New Westminster; if you don't leave the house, no one is gonna come knocking. I find those who get involved in community events or organizations also tend to be more sociable.

My closest friends these days are people I've met in Fredericton and I've only been here five or six years. Some of it is due to it being the Maritimes (which basically means not as urban as larger places – more of a rural sensibility even in the larger centres). But it's proximity and frequency too. I think setting comes after the first two.
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In my young adulthood I moved away to later live in Burnaby and then Surrey. I never thought I would find the same neighbourhood feel again, until we moved to New Westminster 8 years ago. When we bought our Sapperton home I was three months pregnant and had just started a new job, needless to say, was exhausted everyday so didn’t have much energy to get to know the City, much less really get to know our neighbours during the dark fall and winter months. When our daughter was born, somehow news spread all over the neighbourhood and neighbours we had never met were dropping of gifts. To this day, we continue to get hand-me-down toys, books, clothing etc and it just doesn’t end. I have been overwhelmed by the gestures of friendship in this City. It is a wonderful place to raise a family and I am forever grateful we found it.