I really like the region known as the Intermountain west.As for Las Vegas, I have a townhouse near the Strip in what I would call a C neighborhood but it's zoned in a multi-use overlay district with high demand so I get good quality tenants and higher rents.  

The Lehigh Valley is considered Allentown,Bethlehem and Easton.Some awards won by Allentown In the recent years:2015- Ranked by Fortune Magazine as being among the top 10 best places in the US to relocate corporate finance and Information technology companies.2016- Cited as a “national success story” by the Urban Land Institute for its downtown redevelopment. 2017 & 2018- Downtown Allentown Revitalization District was named 1 of 13 winners worldwide of the prestigious “Urban Land Institute Global Award for Excellence”.

My wife is on board with our investing of rental properties goals but would like a slightly bigger house in a better school district.  

It’s in a great school district (main reason we’re moving) and is about a mile from a lake with a state park.

https://www.courts.state.md.us/sites/default/files/import/district/forms/civil/dccv082br.pdfI’d start here and research more about the paperwork you need.

Baraboo (each population about 10-12K, with about 20-25K per school district) and a couple of smaller towns.

I've been looking into district/communities of north St.

Nashville has outlawed this year all future absentee owners for Short Term Rentals except in the commercial district downtown.

If it's cosmetic rehab, and the rental market pricing covers more than my estimated PITI + vacancies/CAPEX/repairs etc in a good school district, I would probably rent.If I have to put in a lot of $$$ to gut a house, it's a flip. 

If it has no well for irrigation or district water the land is dead for farming.5) horse property- this could be an option, as well as renting out as pasture ground.