Buy-and-hold strategies in high priced areas

[Phil Sharp]

I have lived in the San Francisco bay area for the last 15 or so years, and am anxious to start doing some buy-and-hold investing.  However, it seems that price-to-rent ratios are solidly over 30 in my area, and generally high anywhere in coastal California it seems.  For example, the house I own in Sunnyvale currently has a price-to-rent ratio of 34.  My understanding is that, as a rule of thumb, buy-and-hold investing doesn't make sense unless you can get a price-to-rent around 8 or below (which roughly correlates to the 1% rule).  Assuming that's roughly true, is there any way for me to do buy-and-hold investing in my area, or do I simply need to find other places in the country to invest?  If so, what is the best/simplest way to find places where price-to-rent ratios are in line with buy-and-hold investing?