I’m looking for something where I can do some local community building, I’m guessing mastodon might work but I think the ideal is something like facebook where I can join a group tied to a common idea and a location, as well as being a bit more personal. Is there anything like that?
Depending on your needs, take a closer look at Mobilizon (similar to Facebook Groups and Pages) or Bonfire (modular ecosystem with different apps).
I believe both are great federated tools for community building.