I configured the file <my short user name>.conf exactly as you described:
<Directory "/Users/<my short user name>/Sites/">
and localhost resolves to Library/WebServer/Documents. You can blame it on homebrew if you like, but I don't care. I will have a development platform that allows me to design not only the necessary HTML, CSS, and Javascript, but build the databases and content management systems that tie it all together.
Re: "Please don't. It's not 1998 anymore. Those are dead-end technologies."
Where does the "1998" condescension come from? I've been a full-stack programmer since the mid-1980s, working in 7 different languages (including assembly language). Though it's true I have little experience setting up newsletters, I've made a career out of creating secure, custom production management systems for industry. My clients wax ecstatic about their reliability, speed, and functionality - and until they don't, I'll probably continue to rely on those dead-end technologies, Apache/PHP/MySQL, to design, build, and test them.
Re: AWS, I wouldn't go near it. In 2012 I developed a site for a luxury womenswear franchise, and in the first week after launch it disappeared into thin air. Worse, tech support was non-existent.
Again, I appreciate your help with this issue, but ultimately we each have our own way to get the job done.