Any recommendations on key cities / towns within Ohio / Indiana that I should continue to research to further narrow my focus?

Welcome to the Sun City ☀️! 

However; some cities require a contractor to be on the application for permit.

City of Madison recently really increased there occupancy limits. 

Among U.S. cities, counties or metro areas for which regular data is available, Maricopa County holds one of the highest eviction rates, at 16 filings per 100 renter households during the past year, according to Eviction Lab, a research group at Princeton University that tracks evictions in 35 U.S. cities and 10 states.

I’m also in the process of reaching out to people in my city/neighborhood who are experienced REIs, RE agents, and GCs to get their insight and pick their brains, start to conceptualize potential partners, etc.

But you are falling right into the 1 percent rule trap of cities.

It's good for our city when people invest in tough areas.

In the next 1-2 yrs I'd like to move out to either a bigger place or a new new city (job related relocation etc).

Nashville is a very pocketed city when it comes to neighborhood quality especially in relation to crime rates, overall aesthetics or available amenities.