I agree with your thoughts. The Kingdom can achieve this sense of community and has already been doing that for some time now. I wonder if others see the kingdom like I do, and how much of an important role it plays not only as a place for the community but also onboarding, and discussions.
I know that you know that the Kingdom is doing a good job. But imagine that there is a whole network of similar places in many European cities. You go to Amsterdam, for example, and you know that there is a place where you will find friendly people with whom you will find common topics. I think this could be something revolutionary for Hive, because people would stop thinking of it as a blogging platform and start seeing it as a helpful community.
That should be the next step for IRL community builders. I think the meetups in the kingdom are just baby steps toward reaching that level of interconnected community hubs. There are plenty meet ups going on but no physical spaces, yet.