After seeing my partner, a photographer, struggle with creating a CSS theme for Gumroad, I built a tiny platform in an afternoon to help anyone who sells digital goods on the platform built a branded theme for their shop
I don't think there will be a boom either, but instead a gradual trend as more and more companies and employees find the Midwest a favorable place to live for the other reasons mentioned in the post.
It's pretty crappy and is not responsive AT ALL, but the main thing there is the interface with the audio API. Potentially a starting point for better applications.
I find side projects to be very helpful when attempting to learn a new framework or language. Start small and slowly build up the complexity as you move on.
It will be difficult at first, but fellow developer and Stack Overflow are your friends. It also adds an extra layer of enhancement if the open source the project, as it allows others to review your code and improve it, allowing you to contribute something to the community while learning at the same time.
You should also check out open source projects written in the language you're interested in. I find that CMS source code covers a huge amount of tips and tricks I find helpful when starting a new language.
