I recently published a BiggerPockets  book about self storage, so I am biased.

Just my two cents- (albeit I do out-of-state rentals myself, so my answers may be slightly biased, but the reason I do out-of-state stuff is because of my answers to the other ones)House hack a MFR in an up and coming neighborhood in NELA I don't think these areas are as "up and coming" as you think.

Granted everyone is biased towards themselves.

You never know how is going to be a great vs. bad tenant, who will leave, etc.Anyway, I'd get a PM but I'm tremendously biased that way given my experience. 

If someone files a complaint, you have to be able to show that your restrictions are reasonable and not unfairly biased against people with kids.Everything rule or policy should be designed to mitigate your risk.

I've posed this question to a few people (with biases) and have read a few books on the subject and I'm still undetermined.

@Shachar Hess Well I'm obviously going to be biased but I love Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

(Life experiences that trigger various emotions, biases, etc.)

To eliminate any possible biased claims against me, from possible tenants, it is best cover all the bases.

I hate to sound biased because I was born and raised there, Dallas is a good place to invest long term and so is Memphis and Austin.