Small town/Rural investing

[Steven J.]

Hey BPers,

I wanted to get an idea of who and how people might be investing in smaller markets. I'm not talking a small area of a large city or even suburbs but towns with say 150,000 for its population.

Reason I ask is there is a market I'm interested in. It has the second biggest hospital construction project west of Mississippi, meaning growth of population, and three accredited colleges plus multiple vocational schools, meaning lots of rentals. I'm sure I can find some investments in such a market. I'm just curious as to how some of you go about doing that.