My speciality being Bakersfield, I can say that our population has grown at a healthy pace for the previous few decades, and we have good reason to believe that the growth in Bakersfield will only increase at a faster pace than it already has.  

My business has grown exponentially faster once I took on a partner. 

I've also grown up in Westchester. 

But as @Lee Ripma mentions there are other ways to go for passive REI, and I wrote a blog article last year Three Key Routes for Passive Real Estate Investing that illustrate and compare some you may want to consider.The best major cash flow markets have all grown very competitive for turnkey investors just starting out, so if you are going to go that route in might want to look at smaller markets that are earlier in their turn around stage, such as Dayton, OH, if you are going the turnkey route. 

At some point when your RE IQ is grown and your confidence level is high then the bigger deals will come.

Lots of areas have grown and lots of areas haven’t changed at all.

When I see "150,000 jobs added" it is hard to verify.Population growth is why I like a state like Texas or Colorado which have grown 10% from 2010 to 2016.

They are grown adults, but can't seem to get life together.

While not necessarily fully involved in REI, as I have gotten older I have seen him learn increasingly more about investing, and a lot of his knowledge he has passed down to me as my passion for it has grown.

Many have grown up with a defeatist attitude instilled in them by us.