Yeah my town does events that might seem cool on the surface until you look inside and realize it's all the chamber of commerce behind everything and literally all of it is to promote local businesses.

Which isn't a bad thing in itself except that A) it's literally every community event in town year-round, and B) the chamber of commerce around here is basically a boy's club for republican business owners who are chummy with the county council.

Anyone who doesn't play their game gets roadblock after roadblock, while their "boys" get basically free license to do whatever. Literally change laws at the snap of a finger and rewrite codes to fast-track changes to the sidewalk and other public infrastructure, just to benefit their businesses. And no community input can stop them.

But if you're not "one of them," then good luck re-zoning an unused lot to build an ice cream shop, or whatever you want to do. Cause they'll give you so many hurdles and draw the process out so long that you either go broke or give up before they even give you permission to put in a driveway on property that you own.

So yeah, I get what you mean about "community engagement but no community feeling."