Which geographies to invest in for buy-and-hold

[Phil Sharp]

I am from the San Francisco bay area, where prices make buy-and-hold investing very challenging.  I am interested in investing out of state, in locations where it is more practical to find stuff that can become cash flow positive.  Basically, places that put the 1% rule within reach.  However, finding these geographies seems daunting, as there are 100s of communities that could potentially fit the bill.  Any advice on how to efficiently find or analyse geographies for cash-flow-positive, buy-and-hold investing?