Paul, even though you're more experienced than most of us when it comes to building and maintaining entrepreneurial ecosystems, I do feel that the community part of this equation can be accomplished regardless of geographic issues.

For me, the great thing about the web is that it is geographically agnostic. This allows for building great businesses and communities without the need of geographical proximity. Meeting other like-minded individuals physically is great, sure, but the inability to do so shouldn't be an obstacle that hinders working with them and accomplishing great things together imho.