I think this is right in the sense of "a project for an individual to make a local difference".
A lot of people have gone down this road trying to build major projects, especially 8-10 years ago when hyperlocal was the next big thing (remember everyblock?). They all sort of petered out, presumably because it was just too hard to scale with tech as opposed to having people on the ground. Us nerds tend want projects based on data feeds, not on people sitting in city council meetings and interviewing people, and most journalists I know are more interested in working for the Washington Post than being the only reporter on the nowheresville tribune.
A lot of people have gone down this road trying to build major projects, especially 8-10 years ago when hyperlocal was the next big thing (remember everyblock?). They all sort of petered out, presumably because it was just too hard to scale with tech as opposed to having people on the ground. Us nerds tend want projects based on data feeds, not on people sitting in city council meetings and interviewing people, and most journalists I know are more interested in working for the Washington Post than being the only reporter on the nowheresville tribune.