Hi Jeff,
I completely understand where you coming from with this, as I had a similar issue at one of my sites in West Palm Beach. This particular asset was down a private road off the main, which had another newer community in the front. We did get traffic, and closing was great, but the majority of traffic was stopping at the community at the front. I had the same issue in Atlanta with another asset. The best results came from bandit signs I purchased. Each sign directed them down to our community with funny words and animation, people knew from the trailing bandit signs that the front community was not the place that the true “hidden jewel” was down the road. Simple wording like (Almost there!, Keep ‘em coming, etc.) really makes wonders.
As for generating the actual traffic, there is many fun things to do. One of course is ensuring that you have an amazing curb appeal and that the main road has something about your community. Go around and put a few bandit signs around the community (or City). Get cheap ones with (white with red writing), because people will take them off and dump them, but someone will see them and call.
Promote Promote and Promote your resident referrals. For these types of communities word of mouth is the best source. Also, go old school and hit the ground running with outreach marketing. Hit the shopping centers, flyer the local business, bring cookies to local agencies. Trust me, best results are word of mouth and drive-by traffic. Don’t go crazy being on all publications and every website. Pick one provider (either ForRent or ApartmentGuide) and use the free websites like CraigsList, Facebook, etc.
Hope this helps!
Pedro