I think it's pretty common practice to install WordPress locally when you begin working on a new site, and then move everything to a dev or production server once the time comes.
Haha, I think we all know that "pretty common" is an understatement.
There has to be a way I can convert or export the database to be compatible with versions pre < 5.5.3.
Hopefully someone who knows about such things will see this thread and help us out!