I have read "The Millionaire Real Estate Investor" by Gary Keller, which is a great book I may add and plan to start implementing those ideas as I go through the next couple months!

I hope that you are successful in your implementation. 

He reported that the city had implemented new policies that would cause increases in cost and that he had made the decision to move the build site to another location that he owned outright.  

Insurance - ValuePenguinRent control - Some states and metro areas have implemented various kinds of rent control.

Another automation implementation i've done - I've gone through and made it so my renters can direct deposit rent into my business banking account.

There may be statewide initiatives that work with state and federal funding but almost all of these programs get implemented at the local level.

I figured the city would have very stringent regulations and expensive permits, hookups, etc.

It will come down more to what type of REI you are planning, and what type of strategy you want to implement.

Are the criteria for rental the same or more stringent than section 8?

The city has seen some serious investment from the city along with investment from Promedica, our healthcare provider, which provides thousands of jobs to locals in the area.Along with this, a new company is moving into the area and will be implementing a $400M facility: Peloton.