I'm happy that you could find some value in the partially shared nature of our experience. In my eyes, most apartment buildings are basically human–size chicken farms — you either are away, or sit in your own box. There are hardly any opportunities to organically get to know one's neighbors short of an unsolicited ring to their door (o horror!) or a rare encounter in the elevator with one of the predominantly elderly inhabitants. Not longer than a month ago I've bumped into a completely unknown young man. As it turned out, he's been living there for over a year already. I haven't seen him before nor after this one instance.
While I completely agree that it's the best action to take in our situations, deliberately putting myself into situations with a heightened potential for talking to new people is a challenging concept for me, emotionally speaking. I definitely have some intense self–convincing to perform! May your hope bear its fruit in due time.