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Is there any overlap between this forum and development forums in the vein of SkyscraperCity and CityData? SkyscraperCity is an urbanist forum, and I find it intriguing to browse threads there to see what infrastructure projects various cities are undertaking, including my nearest city.
CityData was originally more of a real estate forum where people could start threads to inquire about life in various American suburbs and small towns, and it's quite fascinating to learn about the amenities and ins and outs of a random small town most people overlook in a state that I've never set foot in. It's branched out into different subforums for politics, philosophy, theology, and hobbies. In a sense, it is like a smaller Reddit that is substituted with conservative boomers. The caliber of discourse tends to be higher as you don't have stoned vegetables giving their dilettante conjectures, though it does have a few occasional trolls.
I used to look at CityData back in the early days, like 2007/2008, but the posts got samey pretty fast, basically "Where should I live?" and people suggesting the same city neighborhoods/suburbs. When the conservative boomers took over it became damn near unreadable. Nobody could post anything in the Pittsburgh forum without the thread quickly devolving into the most predictable conservative talking points; the city is a mismananged, crime-ridden hellhole and would be much better if Republicans whipped it into shape and turned it into whatever exurb they prefer, which is obviously so much better. Everything was a waste of money (even if it was a Federal grant that would have just gone to another city). It was like reading the local news page on Facebook, except it was the same few people who had to get their 2 cents in on everything. At that point I quit even occasionally checking it, only to come back a few years ago and find that at some point the mods made it clear that all politics must be contained in the politics thread, at which point the sub just died, as the only people who were posting at that point were doing so to make cheap political points.
Hmm, with regards to activity and the people who post, I do think it depends on the sub-forum. Like many other forums, you have a select few crap-stirring regulars that make the experience less pleasant, and once you know which handles to ignore, it gets much easier to participate. There are some neighborhoods and suburbs that some people treat as the be-all and end-all, but I also do see healthy pushback to those kinds of sentiments by others. I appreciate that the people who post there tend to be more articulate and conscientious than Facebook or Reddit users, even if that bar is in hell. I would definitely consult CityData before a turboprogressive city sub if I wanted to solicit some relocation advice.
Personally, there's just something surreal about browsing through 2008 threads about the subdivision I grew up in, or one about a small town an American friend I've met here in Europe tells me he was raised in. You get to learn about the local chamber of commerce, gossip about municipal scandals, hidden gems such as an art gallery or a biking trail most people in the area don't know about, and the agreeable subdivisions of an otherwise poorly reputed suburb, etc. As a zoomer, I imagine this is the closest I'll get to living in the 2000s zeitgeist along with watching TV shows and listening to music from that time window.
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