Large town vs. big city

[Mason V.]

I currently live in Portland Oregon which has roughly 300K people. In a month I will likely be moving 60 miles away to Kelso Washington which, along with Longview, has roughly 40k people. As a brand new investor feel I should keep the focus of my market research on Portland. My reasoning is that Portland is more familiar to me, it has more resources for me to tap into, the REIA meetings I have started attending are there and it will likely be easier to find a mentor. On the other hand though, Kelso would likely be cheaper, I would have less competition and it may be easier to learn the market. My gut feeling is telling me to stay with Portland and to focus on the areas of Vancouver, Milwaukie or North East Portland. My brain tells me I should put more research into Kelso and Longview since that is where I will be living. If it makes any difference I am planning to start out either flipping or renting houses.

Anyone have any advice or insight?