Notes
- Start here14 min read
Romance scams: how to spot one, and what to do
How these scams actually work in 2026, the signs that are worth watching for, what to do in the first hour if it has happened to you, and how to help someone who does not believe you yet.
Read this one - 5 min readPhoenix metro
Dating in Phoenix in summer
From June through September the city closes its most popular trails from 8am to 5pm. Here is what actually works in the four months when every default plan is a bad one.
Read - 5 min read
Dating when you just moved to a new city
The problem is not meeting people. It is that you have no third place yet, no standing commitments, and no idea which neighborhoods are actually near you.
Read - 4 min read
What to actually talk about on a first date
The interview problem, why a date with an activity in it is easier than one without, and the three questions that work better than the ones everyone asks.
Read - 4 min readDowntown LA
First dates in Downtown LA
Three districts that look adjacent and are not, two world-class museums that are free, and the only part of Los Angeles where you can genuinely date without a car.
Read - 3 min readHighland Park
First dates in Highland Park
Two parallel commercial streets that locals treat as two different nights out, a 1927 bowling alley that solves the first-date problem, and the rail line almost nobody uses.
Read - 4 min readPasadena
First dates in Pasadena
The most walkable retail district in the county, a world-class museum that is free one Friday a month, a flea market with 2,500 vendors, and a train most people forget exists.
Read - 6 min readHillcrest & Downtown
First dates in San Diego: Hillcrest, downtown and the beaches
Hillcrest closes the gap to Balboa Park, downtown is three districts pretending to be one, and the beaches are a daytime proposition that gets sold as a night out.
Read - 6 min readSan Francisco
First dates in San Francisco: Hayes Valley, the Castro, North Beach and the Marina
Four neighborhoods that each do one thing well, the fog map that decides which one to pick, and the two walks that look identical on a map and are not.
Read - 4 min readSanta Monica & Venice
First dates in Santa Monica and Venice
Skip the Promenade, walk Main Street into Abbot Kinney, and know which of these places is a daytime proposition rather than a night out.
Read - 4 min read
How to write a dating profile that gets replies
Most profiles fail for one reason: they describe the person instead of giving anyone something to say back. Here is the fix, and the photo advice nobody follows.
Read - 5 min readDowntown Phoenix
Meeting people in downtown Phoenix and Roosevelt Row
A monthly street party that draws ten thousand people, an arcade bar that does the work for you, and the least car-dependent part of the Valley.
Read - 4 min readKoreatown
Meeting people in Koreatown
The nightlife is on the second and third floors of mini-malls, the parking is the worst in the city, and the subway just got much better. Three facts that decide everything else.
Read - 4 min readLong Beach
Meeting people in Long Beach
Three districts that are not walkable to each other, a single-screen cinema from 1924 with a wine bar next door, and why Long Beach is its own city for dating purposes.
Read - 4 min readNorth Park
Meeting people in North Park and South Park
The four corners everyone recommends are the worst block in the neighborhood on a Friday. Here is the rest of it, including a dance studio that solves the hardest problem in dating.
Read - 5 min readOakland
Meeting people in Oakland
Warmer and sunnier than San Francisco, easier to park in than anywhere else in the Bay Area, and home to a Sunday afternoon where showing up alone and not talking is the entire format.
Read - 4 min readSilver Lake & Echo Park
Meeting people in Silver Lake and Echo Park
Two districts that share a boulevard and nothing else. Where the walkable blocks actually are, the free Tuesday night that works better than any bar, and the Dodger problem.
Read - 4 min readThe Valley
Meeting people in Studio City and North Hollywood
One of these is a car district that reads as a walking district on a map. The other is the only place in the Valley where a car-free night genuinely works.
Read - 6 min readTempe & Scottsdale
Meeting people in Tempe and Old Town Scottsdale
One is a student street that empties for four months a year. The other has free parking, no rail, and the best free weekly date in the metro.
Read - 4 min readThe Mission
Meeting people in the Mission
The sunniest neighborhood in San Francisco, the best cross-town walk in the city, and the three specific blocks worth routing around.
Read - 4 min readWest Hollywood
First dates in West Hollywood, priced three ways
A plan for the cheap night, the normal night, and the one where you are trying — plus the parking problem nobody warns you about.
Read - 4 min readSunset Strip
Meeting people on the Sunset Strip
The Strip is a mile and a half of famous rooms, most of them full of people who flew in. Here is how to use it if you actually live here.
Read - 6 min readWest Hollywood
Where to meet people in West Hollywood when you are tired of the apps
A practical look at the Rainbow District, the daytime options most people skip, and how to go out alone without it feeling like a chore.
Read - 4 min readHollywood
Meeting someone from an app in Hollywood: the checklist that actually works
Most dating safety advice is either terrifying or useless. This is the practical version: what to set up beforehand, how to structure the meeting, and how to leave.
Read - 4 min readWest Hollywood
A sober night out in West Hollywood
The neighborhood is organized around bars, which is a problem if you are not drinking. It is a smaller problem than it looks.
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