I'll chime in from a new comer to the hobby ..
i just bought my first car, FGX with all the fixin's so to speak .. by the time all was said and done, dropped some serious cash on my first car, well serious in the sense that it's not cheap to get started ... so there is a limiting factor right up front for anyone getting into the scene, startup cost.
to be honest there are a lot of long-in-the-tooth veterans that don't make newbs like me feel all that welcome .. limiting factor #2.
as mentioned before tracks seem to be limited, i don't really know "how it used to be" here in vancouver, but now it's tough to find places that cater to on-road with a decent track. we have maybe 3 places around town with regular events/track hours. limiting factor #3.
lastly, off-road definitely is in the drivers seat here so if you're into 4WD you'll definitely find more people that will share your interest. i, unfortunately, don't find a lot of fun in mudding and crawling .. i've been an F1 fan since i was a kid so that's where i leaned in this hobby; on-road, slick tyres, open wheel racing. although i do like rally a lot, i don't see a lot that doesn't have buggies or trucks off road.
i hope for the sake of the industry (and my newly built wheels) that people in the scene bring new blood into the scene. that people stop crying about how it was and start pushing how it can get better. i'd like to see more indoor tracks and maybe enthusiasts building permanent outdoor venues that mirror the full sized legendary tracks around the world (LeMans, Nurburgring, Monza and Silverstone). also streamline the governing bodies that write the rules, rc seems to be going the way of pro wrestling with all the different rules and regulations depending on what side of the city you live in .. that's kinda annoying for a newb looking in .. doesn't really affect me in canada but in the usa it's like you'd need 3 different motors for one car depending on what weekend and where you want to compete, a little standardizing would go a long way.
anyway, for what it's worth. that's my $0.02