What are the most popular keyword searches made by people in my home town?

I'd like to create a website providing info of interest to people in my home town. It would be nice to know what keywords they use when they are searching the Internet. I tried Yahoo Search Marketing and Google Adwords and they got me a little bit of info but not enough to really make an informed decision about what people around here want to find online. Are there other online resources that can help me find this info? Do I need to stop people on the street and ask them? Please point me in a direction that might help me do some of this basic market research.

Which is the Best Keywords Research Tools you use so far?

I have tried the FREE keyword suggestion tool by WordTracker and the Keyword Tool from Google Adwords. Both work ok, but I just feel that they are just not comprehensive enough in terms of features. What tools do you use? Why is it better?

Comparing AdWords and Yahoo research Marketing to free advertisment.?

Does advertising with free advertisement compare well with Yahoo Search Marketing and Google AdWords? And does it offer the same results?