For online folks this is kind of "smoke like". Hard to describe, harder still to get your hands around.

So here are the areas:

Community definition:
50 to 80 thousand people.
70% of the *****s have POST graduate papers.
Artists have included Ann Rice (authopr)(now moved to New Orleans), Huey Lewis (of Huey Lewis and the news), Sculptors, painters, poets, etc.
Professionals include bank execs (the IT director for a major bank lives across the street).
The library and coffee shops are the hot visiting places.
We are in a baby boom. Strollers abound.
Two neighborhood public schools, one elementary (the PTA raised 80K to bring in art and music last year and over a 100 K this year), one middle school that can't get more than 20 parents in a room for a meeting).
There are about 450 merchants in the area (inc. shops, dining and professionals)

I have been unable to penetrate the market. Also, there is a near complete disdain for my site by the merchants. I have ask for suggestions and they refuse to even look.

Web things.

One neighborhood org will illustrate the problem. I offer to provide a part of the my forum for their private use. "We will check it out" was the reply to numerous calls. Then they had a site built. That is OK. They could have told me what they wanted and I would have put it on mine.

Same for the middle school and the elementary school.

I do not think I am alone in this frustration.

So, question::

How to get the neighborhood to look at the site and tell me what they want. I have never made a change. They have never made a suggestion.

I do have competition. The local newspaper (a monthly). I maintain that the use of the forum is a faster turn around and still there is distrust, I think that is the word. And I have never done anything to create an environment of distrust.

peace

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Ed Shuck