Christian, it's hard to overestimate the value of local knowledge, i.e., really knowing a market.
But on the other hand you're certainly right, the state is not business friendly at all, the tax burden is quite high, and given the future pension obligations I don't see that getting better in the future at all.
Also, this part of the country in general (the northeast) isn't really where the growth has been or seems like it will be soon.
I think the near term price trends are good so if you know the area and already own something here I'd say you would probably do well if you continue buying, but I'd also recommend keeping a close eye on the market, especially starting about 3 years from now (at years 3, 4 and 5).
In particular pay attention to when prices seem high (sellers are still commanding higher prices) but days on market are increasing (they are taking longer to get those high prices) - it's like when the roller coaster starts to slow down at the top of the hill.
We are shortening our time horizon for new acquisitions from planning 10 years out to thinking more like 5 at this point, just based on where things seem to be in the market cycle, and I suspect in ~3 years we'll be looking to sell under-performing assets.