In Oregon there is no mechanism for private developers to float bonds to pay for infrastructure.. its one reason why Oregon never grew as fast as say CA .. and other areas.. 

I grew up in So Cal, but that was a long time ago, so I have no suggestions...

I grew up on the Northside and that was my only reason to ever be over there.It's next to Braddock and most folks rarely mention "Braddock" without saying "warzone", so I would imagine it would be a high risk play to invest in Rankin.

@Maureen Nixon I grew up a little north Detroit, and bought my first eight rental properties in Saginaw and Bay City Michigan.

Well, I grew up in Baldwin County as well! 

I'm an out-of-state investor who lives in Seattle, though originally grew up in Delaware, and want to start investing in an area near home for me.

@Zak Boca I too grew up in Tech and have now invested in over a dozen syndications as a limited (passive) partner in the past 10 years. 

Here is my approach to finding an area:I search by zip code and filter for zip codes where the population grew and the unemployment rate declined in the past 5 years.For the left-over zip codes, I look for low price-to-rent ratios.

Tons and tons of information on this site, also I highly recommend the podcasts.I grew up in Claymont, own a rental in N.

I grew up in Seattle I miss it.