Should I Buy and Hold in Akron, Ohio?

[Jesse Richardson]

Hi BP,

I'm looking to invest with a friend of mine, who I've known for 12 years.  He lives in Akron, Ohio and does buy and hold.  I also do buy and hold, but I work with turnkey properties, but I want to get away from that to make higher cash flow.  My friend invests in C class properties in the zip code of 44310, that rent fast and I believe rents are good based on what I've learned from BP.

I'm looking to partner with my friend and start off small to build the business/iron out the quirks.  I'm sure many of you have horror stories about partnerships and all, but what I really want to know about is the Akron, Ohio area and the city prospects.

I saw that Akron, over the past 70 years, has decreased in population and the trend seems to continue.  To me, that doesn't sit well.  Is it on a turn-around?

Are there any Akron, or Ohio natives that can tell me about the city, where it's going, what the mayor and other politicians have planned, trends of the city, or really anything about it that would be useful to an out of state investor like myself?  I understand there's a large hospital and also UA there for jobs and student influx, but are there many other large companies that higher employees with decent pay/benefits?

Thanks for the discussion,

Jesse