Business Model question

[Mike T.]

This is my first post on biggerpockets. I have been checking in on the site for the past few months. I am a property manager(my company's,and owner of over 30+, SFH,townhomes)in the Chicago area, mostly southeast. I began in real estate full time in 2001 after a career in accounting. I did rehabs for about 5 years with a partner and then in about 2005 we switched to rentals. Our niche is sec. 8 properties. Probably 85% of all our rentals are subsidized. This takes a tremendous amount of time working with the CHA which is what my day mostly consists of and managing the units. The recent economic climate has put a great dampening on our ability to expand as bank lending our main source is dead. However, as a result i've been able to focus more on operations and setting up a more streamlined way of managing the units. I'm still a long way from where i want to be. As i have more time because i'm not chasing deals really just managing i've become to ponder my company's business model more. Most of our homes are in working class neighborhoods generally good blocks. We tried to stay away from homes located around surrounding apartment buildings and they are all brick blocks for the most part. Our main attraction has been the cash flow which is enough for me to do this full time. However, i'm pondering if our business model is something we should continue with. It seems violence and crime just keep creeping into our areas more and more. I worry that they will change forever. I also am beginning to worry about my safety of going into the areas more and more. Finally, i worry that housing prices in these areas will continue their decline as older folks leave and more renters become the norm. Does anyone have similar model and do you feel these issues too?, or should i be looking at other areas that i've overlooked. Any comments are appreciated.