Cornell and Ithaca College aren't going anywhere, and the economy there has been relatively strong throughout the recession, though it's weakened a little lately.  

It's more recession resistant and you're making a lot more than traditional rentals.

I know every city is going to vary in prices for rent and houses, but to see an overall image of how the USA or North America was effected during the 2007, 2008 recession would be interesting.

But I don't think the housing recession was necessarily a good indictor of historical trends.

Yes, it slows in a recession, but it will grow fast again.$50K for a 2 year old brick 3-2-2 is too cheap.$400K for a 4500SF luxury home that would cost $600K to build now before the land costs is too cheap.

Before the next recession; I want to own enough rentals outright to have a solid cash-on-cash cash-flow.

It has one of the fastest growing job markets with an unemployment rate of only 6% (Feb. 2013).It has a well educated workforce and was #2 on the Forbes list of recession-proof cities recently.

It is a very dynamic marketplace.During the height of the recession, when we thought we might lose one of our two large banks, things were pretty stagnant.  

I read somewhere one-time that the gaming industry is recession-proof.

I am nowhere near smart enough to predict what is going to happen in the next recession.