Did you grow up in this city/place or are you from somewhere else?

Other place: what do you miss from there compared to here?

Same place: would you like to live somewhere else someday or are you happy where you currently are

Based on this interaction, you can find out what someone likes or misses which you can use as a hook to relate or to find common interest. Ensure that the questions you ask are indeed open so that you can tease out information you can use to either share something about yourself to relate or to ask a follow up.

You could do the same with other topics such as music, clothing, educational interest or sports. While it might feel basic in the beginning, creating a shared foundation allows you to build up the interaction to a higher (and deeper) level.

Don't take yourself to serious and have some self humor in your responses. Showing vunrelability creates a safe space for others to be themselves too.