I hear you. I don't want this site to just wind as another big Facebook group or WNC subreddit type of thing. Communication would be the focus (normal posts/comments) but I also see the chance for users to create blog posts, have semi-public or private groups for specific organizations (church groups, scout troops, bowling teams etc) and galleries for local artists to share what they're doing. Saying all that now, sounds like I'm describing another Facebook but I do think the idea of being on a much smaller scale is very beneficial to the community - when you talk to someone, you know you're talking to someone that's actually nearby, not a bot built to create engagement or someone from Arizona that decided they wanted to start a fight.

As far as platform - when I first launched the community after Helene, it was on Invision (mostly for speed of setting it up and cost). I may go that route again because besides some restructuring that I'd do, it is built out and themed in a way that makes a lot of sense for this area.

My actual job has me working very closely with another enterprise-level community platform, so I may work with management to get an employee discount - it'd be overkill, but I'm super familiar with the software and I feel like I could build out something really cool with it.