I know it sounds trite, but most small-ish subreddit communities are still sane. Avoid the main ones like the plague though.

It depends. I have had interactions with some small community moderators that border on the insane. I was banned from AskHistorians for explaining the historical utility of nomadic herding of livestock. The moderator who banned me was also the moderator of a vegan/vegetarian subreddit.

I don't log into the site any longer.

Ah, AskHistorians can be rough. Maybe it's a more technical thing, but on some sports and some computer niche subreddits I feel okay and there's a nice discussion.

But I understand your position and find myself using the site less and less.

Seattle subreddit is unbelievably awful and it's not just the mods, it's virtually every person participating.

What's the alternative? As a Digg v4 refugee, I've always wondered.

Trouble is that deep knowledge of niche communities has taken 15 years - a not-insignificant portion of a lifetime - to accumulate. If the site dies, so much specialised discussion is scattered where it'll be far harder to find.

There isn't one right now.