The issue is that most of our members have a lot less time than they used to. You're right; we could use a thriving community. And I encourage anything you can do to attract people. We have a lot of material available across the site for advertising, and if you're willing to put in the time to head up the effort, that would be amazing. We could use some new blood with the time and energy to get things moving faster.
I'm not so sure that a revamp to the forums would be an appropriate use of time. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't think that's what is going to bring people in.