the way I see it (i may be wrong)
is that for the regionals, they often have shabby areas of town, like most big cities,
assuming the city isnt falling apart, and isnt going backwards, as prices go up, rents go up, the undesirables either move further out or away.
areas with high concentrations of comission housing get sold off to private owners, and they usually choose better tenants through agencies and therefore the people with crappy tenancy histories move away,
thus the area starts cleaning up, and because more less undesirable,
well, thats what I thought however in one or two of the areas that I have bought in, crime has either stayed the same or even increased, and the selling agents (with some degree of bias most likely) say that as long as you are a landlord there, you will always have the same problems
thats my theory, however its not panning out the way I'd predicted
so im feeling pretty shabby at the moment