I'm always surprised by how gamers seem to manifest around me whenever I think it's time to quit because multiple regular players have gotten too busy, quit, or moved away.

Just keep an open mind, talk to the quirky people at your work, participate in other hobbies, and gamers will manifest.

Oh, and go to the occasional event at your LGS. They'll attract the bad players for sure, but there will be some cool people who are new to the area etc mixed in that you can invite to private games.