Meeting Friends at 30

I'm often surrounded by people that have no issues meeting a large group of great friends, but being fairly new to a large city, I find it difficult.

My time is spent generally at work, and although I like my coworkers, I'm not keen on jeopardizing that professional relationship. I've devoted so much time to my career that my personal life seems to be lacking. 

Now that I'm single, it's becoming much more obvious. I'm even hanging out with my ex boyfriend due to boredom, which is not healthy I'm sure. I think its a better idea to have a group of friends, than go from one relationship to the next, which I have been known to do in the past.

The people I do meet tend to be much younger than me, and the ones my age seem to be married with children etc. My circle of friends that I do know consist of past coworkers and ex boyfriends.

Are there other women out there that may be single, and find it tough to meet that solid group of friends? Are there other thirty-somethings out there that are single and like myself? I'm not always interested in going to the bars every weekend, but sometimes its fun.

How do others go from acquaintances to forming a friendship? I seem to be clueless on that step. I feel often like I'm suggesting a "date", it sometimes makes me awkward, but I have tried.

Any advice would be very helpful, please comment!