Houston economy dwarfs Austin and it is much more resilient than almost any economy in the country.

Where this is an over/under duplex the ceiling / floor assembly between the two units will need to be fire rated - here that translates into voids filled with fire-rated insulation such as Roxul Safe-n-Sound, resilient channel across the joists and 5/8" fire rated drywall (or the 1/2" dense core fire rated which is super expensive).  

If home owners have planted trees on the easement the city will remove them.

I have a rental and I am wondering if I can depreciate mulch, gardening soil, annual flowers and perennials? Also I have built multiple pergolas around the yard with pressure treated lumber.  What depreciation schedul...

There's a Pfizer plant in Kalamazoo you could check out.Regardless of your career path I'd continue building a solid foundation like you're already doing.

In response to suburban flight, our cities will have an opportunity to respond by reimagining their public realm, building more resiliently, and re-inventing retail (that was already struggling before the pandemic).

Solving the problems real estate throws at me has seemed to make me more resilient in life.

Intel is a great example, who is building the largest chip manufacturing plant in the US right here, and it will be a $20 billion dollar investment that brings a few new thousand jobs.https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2022/01/21/intel-ohio-building-computer-chip-factories-licking-county-jersey-township/9173472002/ Another example of economic growth is the upcoming Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Inpatient Hospital which is a 1.9million square foot hospital that will bring over 800 new beds and a thousand new jobs. https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/new-osu-hospital-expected-to-transform-health-careHere are a few more recent investments https://www.10tv.com/article/money/business/hydrogen-power-company-hyperion-bringing-700-jobs-to-columbus/530-25907aab-5517-4661-a9f3-d2ed2d5be6b0 https://news.wosu.org/news/2022-02-08/rumpke-to-build-50-million-recycling-facility-in-columbus Check out The Complete Guide to the Columbus, Ohio Real Estate Market which goes through the Columbus, Ohio market in depth and will give you a better scope of where the highest levels of growth are taking place and where to look to invest.

All the plants along the coast (Pasadena, Texas City, Baytown, La Porte) have steady work, and people with industrial jobs get back on the job ASAP because it's a no-work no-pay model.

It is all about resilience over efficiency these days.