Tomahawk and Reaper,
Have you fellas heard of Tech Shop?
http://www.techshop.ws/locations.html
They seem to be trying to bridge the skills gap as well as provide a higher level of capability than the average home garage/shed for projects/ideas.
I'm sure there are others like it or a similar co-op workspace/access to higher end tools.
The education/community aspect of it is key I reckon.