I'm considering Richmond as one of my cities to find a rental in but I have no experience with the rent control practices. 

Sure, there are bad spots...but so does every city.

I have dealt with the city of Delray Beach but not west palm. 

In my experience it makes the most sense to invest in the outer edges of Austin or in the surrounding cities due to the prices in central Austin being much more expensive.

Forgive me in advance as I'd imagine this question has been asked and answered before, couldn't find it myself.What is the best website for researching cities, neighborhoods, average income, crime stats, average rents, etc. 

@Fran RiveraFor taxes rates, your city and county websites should have the info.  

Code exception from city?) 

Specifically in any of these cities ...

The remaining half has an unnecessary (per existing city code, though they are considering changing that) parking lot and two very old residential units.

I always suggest young individuals who want to get into it , have to live in the city, and only have the cap to put 3-5% down, to buy a condo or even better single family house and rent out the rooms to friends or even potentially AirBnB, if you have the single family house.