(Specifically this part of the thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17071224)
I spun up an instance of phpBB (trying to keep costs down) and customized a ThemeForest theme to make it not ugly. I'll post a thread today that lists all of my notes from the setup process of the site for anyone interested.
I'm a huge fan of the bulletin board/flat forum model of communication, so I'm hoping this site can blossom into a community of high quality folks having high quality conversations.
EDIT: Also, this is my first foray into setting up and using phpBB, so please let me know if I need to adjust anything. I tried to keep most settings at the default because I assumed that made more sense than me tickering, but I'm all ears if things are weird.