Hi all, I am guilty of this, and I think this post is about me mostly!
I do understand the points you've raised. The subreddit that I (along with a few IRL friends I met through r/London) started back in 2010 was focussed on meet-ups in London. It's called LondonSocialClub.
It has a specific ideology - radically inclusive for anyone over 18. There's a mod team that has developed trust and a community of people who know each other - (now scattered across Whatsapp groups that sprung from events posted on the subreddit.)
We're not a normal mod team dealing with usual Reddit stuff. For example, we've had small groups deciding to ban people from events who have been accused of sexual harassment. And other IRL stuff needed our involvement.
The community isn't big enough to split, I think it would break up if it tried.
I'm not a super active mod anymore, but I would be gutted if Reddit went to shit and someone else started a community using the name and brand, but running it counter to my values and what I think are the values of others in the community.
I'd be totally pro someone starting a separate London meetup community on here, just don't want the name poached.