There's a pretty vibrant BT community in Dayton so it's not a Dayton thing. The reality is ATOW is not a very popular part of the BT universe. The WWE last year saw lower turnout for the ATOW scenario compared to both standard BT and the Alpha Strike.
You could always run it online using Roll20 or similar. Just ensure that you have a really good hook (advertisement) to reel people in. I did it with my game taking place in 2764 and the players are all part of the SLDF SAS Blackhearts. They can use power armor, but not mechs.
I have tried Roll20 with my old Robotech group. It just seemed to lose the energy we had of sitting around a table.
Discord, is that typing in a chat box of VOIP?