Entrepreneurs offer singles ways to connect

Stan Choe
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

Living single in Charlotte used to be frustrating for Karlei Kefauver.

After moving from Cleveland four years ago, she found the warmer winters she was seeking. She also found long working hours and few opportunities to meet new people.

The first year here was miserable. "The pace of life is much slower," she said. "I didn't really like the nightlife."

A manager at Kinko's at the time, Kefauver noticed people copying fliers for Charlotte Outdoor Adventures (AKA CHOA), an activity group that brings people together for hiking, movies, bowling and the like.

Kefauver joined and soon was camping in the N.C. mountains with others eager to make new friends.

"The longer I've been here, the more I realize there are more singles in Charlotte," she said.

You have a better chance of running into a single person on the sidewalks of Charlotte than in many places in the nation, according to U.S. Census data.

There's almost a one-in-three chance the next person you meet in Charlotte has never been married, compared with the 27.1 percent in the overall U.S. population, the 25 percent rate in North Carolina and the 26 percent rate in South Carolina.

Charlotte Outdoor Adventures is trying to help some of those singles meet each other. The group, which made a small profit last year, boasts 3,000 members -- about 1,200 of whom are active through the year. It started in 1998.

The group isn't only for singles, but about 80 percent of its membership is unmarried. It tells new members at orientation meetings, though, that it's not a "meat market."

"The way the group is presented is that it's not a singles club," said Kim Chapman, an event leader for Charlotte Outdoor Adventures. "This is an avenue especially for people who are new to the Carolinas. It's only natural that in a group of people with similar interests that people are going to get together."

Despite the down economy, young, single workers still stream into Charlotte, many fresh out of college or with a few years of work experience. Coming from all over the country, many don't have a built-in network of friends.

Many also are working long hours, further limiting the time they have to meet people. And many find the workplace relatively bare of potential friends or significant others.

"Software developers aren't exactly renowned for their exciting social lives," said Charlie Robertson, who moved to Charlotte five years ago to take a software development job at a bank.

Lindsay Spence, who moved to Charlotte from St. Louis, had only six co-workers in her office at her first job with the Mecklenburg County Mental Health Department. They were friendly, she said, but they were over 50. She was 27.

And not everyone can stay interested in the bar scene. Chapman, the CHOA event leader, said she has "run the bar scene since I was 16. After 14, 15 years, it's the same people, same faces, same scene. Some people get lucky, but very few are looking for relationships or anything longer than a couple of days. It's very frustrating."

Chapman instead turned to Charlotte Outdoor Adventures, which she credits for helping her get out of a rut. She is now an event leader for the group. She helped lead a theme party two weekends ago based on the movie "Grease."

Besides being so singles-heavy, the Charlotte scene also boasts younger residents who earn more money relative to some other parts of the nation. The median age is 32.7 years old, compared with the U.S. median age of 35.3. The median household income in Charlotte is $46,975, higher than the U.S. median of $41,994, the N.C. median of $39,184 or the S.C. median of $37,082, according to U.S. Census data.

And as for Karlei Kefauver, the Cleveland transplant who didn't enjoy her first year in Charlotte: After joining Charlotte Outdoor Adventures, she met a guy she liked and they started dating. She married him two weeks ago in Panama City, Fla., lowering Charlotte's single rate by a smidgen.

Where to Scout
• Charlotte Outdoor Adventures, www.choa.com, (704) 906-5479