I know many will disagree, but for me, the reason this place is so rad is that it doesn't aspire to be an "online community".

By not striving, it achieves it.

The interface plays a major role. Most are turned away by how 1999 it looks. The flip side of that is that the "community" here is much like those of the 90's. You had to be somewhat intelligent to get online in the first place, and most everyone who could had a lot in common right out of the gate. No need to contrive "community", it forms organically, as it should.

I am not sure how most people think about it, but I prefer inferfaces like HN's and Dan Luu's blog (https://danluu.com/). They are very simple and the most important thing is the content. I just feel I don't get to waste time with things I don't care.