Hey, another SFL hacker! I definitely think community helps you. The feedback and connections must be great, but for me the biggest benefit is just the motivation it provides. Having a community, large or small, that shares my interests keeps me driven, and I don't feel like I have that here.
It feels very lonely and discouraging to spend 12 hours on a Saturday banging out a personal project, and then not know anyone who would care to see it.
I hardly know any other techies/programmers. And of the ones I do know, 90% of them are 9-5 programmers, who are done talking about it once they clock out, and don't have their own personal projects. That's good for them! But that's not me, nor who I want to surround myself with.
I know there's that space in Wynwood, I think it's called The Lab. It seems like a good place to meet people, but all the events they do are usually while I'm working or something else occurs where I just can't attend.