> I'm curious to hear if you can think of a better way to make friends irl with a decent chance of success.

Any environment where you can meaningfully help each other: a group for new parents, a study group at school, joining a non-profit advisor board.

> Did you not make one single lasting connection (friendship) from that?

I made a lot of activity partners: people I could talk to about that topic, and maybe some adjacent topics, but who didn't have a lot of interest in making me a part of their life outside that general topic. They wouldn't join invitations for dinner, they wouldn't hang out outside the club's context, and they would eventually flake out.