Second, scan the Philadelphia forums for discussions about particular neighborhoods. 

THANK YOU very much for rapidly advising Dasch..

So, to answer your question in more detail, it really depends on your:a) Goals - do you want slow and steady income or do you want rapid growth?

You wouldn't want to buy into an area that is declining rapidly where the tenant quality is decreasing along with the area. 

I"m guessing more B/C neighborhoods that are in rapid growth?

I don't have a problem with technology, I ran a service bureau as a side business when scanning documents and saving the images was in it's infancy. 

My suggestions are to do a search on BP and find Colleagues in your area, scan the location of everyone when reading threads and ask to become Colleagues with folks in your area, and find meetings and meet ups through both BP's Events and Happenings (I think that's the name) area as well as just googling "Dallas real estate meeting" or "Dallas real estate meet up" in your area. 

There are areas that are going through some rapid gentrification, and there are stable areas with good schools.

Grand Rapids seems to be the only one, and that was a few years ago so I suspect I'm late to that investment party.I see Buffalo and Detroit mentioned a bit, but those cities seem to have serious systemic problems they haven't licked yet.Where would you suggest looking right now?

I am from there and it is growing rapidly.