Hyperlocal Media: Patch's Future in Question?

As an observer and participant in the evolution of local media, we were interested to see this tidbit near the end of yesterday’s New York Times article about AOL’s continuing struggle to remake itself as a journalistic powerhouse that investors can learn to love:

Other ideas include closing Patch, AOL’s local news initiative that has reporters in 850 towns. Eliminating the money-losing service would free $160 million and lift AOL into profitability.

If you live in one of the neighborhoods that has its own Patch (like Bed Stuy, Carroll Gardens or Park Slope), what do you make of it so far? Is it filling a need that wasn’t already being met? And speaking of local media, based on the last few weeks of archives, it looks like OTBKB (which we hadn’t looked at in months) has all but stopped publishing. What’s up with that?