Re: markets, I'd first look at job growth and diversity.

The knowledge base and activity level of our experienced members is phenomenal... and while diversity is always nice to hope for, I'm curious what people believe it truly adds?

Well, for me is to be financially free, with at least two-three personal houses, and be able to move freely without the "governing" vacation time or "PL" time from the big corporate job (even thought I'm part of the big corporate which I enjoy a LOT, I call this diversity, because I'm investing and like to invest on many things as possible, if that makes sense).  

Net migration is positive4. job growth is steady 5 wage growth is positive6. median income per month > 3x of monthly median rent7. median rent/median home price should be at least over .5% (it's hard to get 1% in today's market)8. renter percentage > 30%9. easy eviction process (landlord friendly)10. diverse big employers (top employers should be in different industries)11.

I personally like to stay diverse.

"Can't find out why real estate is considered riskier than stocks."1) Amount of money involved vs bunch of stocks2) Stocks offer diversity if you're not going for home-runs3) Liquidity since you can sell stocks in 5 minutes.4) RE requires forward-looking assumptions about price appreciation5) Managing a property poorly can make a HUGE diff in return.  

Neighborhood scout is a great tool, here's a few more:10 year population growth: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/provocityutah/PST045219Industry Diversity (VERY important post-corona): https://wallethub.com/edu/cities-with-the-most-least-diversified-economies/10852/Millican Institute Best Cities RanksUnemployment/Job Growth: https://www.bls.gov/sae/#tablesI invest in multifamily, so I use a lot of CoStar reports for market info.

I have a diverse resume.

ETFs - they are semi-diverse funds available on the stock market.

Lots of flexibility and diversity of roles, but my current schedule works well for family reasons.