You may want to first explore cities that you are already familiar with.Think of cities where you grew up, went to school, like to vacation to or see family.You will have a better idea of what the good / bad parts of town than a brand new city that you are unfamiliar with.Best of luck.

Even the stagnant growth cities still tend to appreciate at par with inflation and see rent growth, so I wouldn't count those out.

I came across some reddit post on the city and how tenant friendly it is, plus population decline.

Quote from @Devin James: In one of our development projects, the City staff asked us to remove 40 units from our concept plan.This wasn’t requested by the City Commission at a formal hearing, it was the opinion of the staff.Our original concept already proposed fewer units than the current zoning would have allowed.Here’s what erasing 40 units means:- 40 fewer homes for buyers- Over $1M in lost profit for our team- Fewer tax dollars and impact fees that could’ve benefited the City’s infrastructure & servicesWe gotta get betterEveryone wants more affordable housing, but not everyone wants to do what it takes to achieve it NIMBY is what it boils down to.

Unless you’re talking about some City specific program.  

Quote from @Sean Pedeflous: I own a duplex in Fayetteville Arkansas and the city is buying part of my backyard to add a trail which connects to a great local park.

But thanks for the mention @Jay Hinrichs I'd invest in my backyard, outside the city of Seattle.

They may be non permitable.check with the local city or county before you get into it where you can't get out.

I have been looking for properties in different cities that would not be a house hack, seeing that we are landlocked where we are at for now.

The city is working on getting a a ferry to NYC which should increase rent / appreciation.