"We don't want a Wal-Mart because they run small businesses out of businesses!" 

Walmart paint.

You don't see the CEO of walmart being at their stores, but when he bought his first few stores, he babysat it to make sure it makes profit.

However, I am investing in the capital (San Salvador) where you can find all the multinationals (Walmart, Unilever, Avianca, Sherwin Williams, Bayer, 3M, Banks, etc...) so there is a middle class that has stable good jobs and income that is interested in living in good neighborhoods and having a 24/7 security in place in the building. 

There's the new HEB going in over there, too - just after getting the new Wal Mart and other commercial stuff on Stan Schlueter.  76549 is the first ZIP code I would send investors to if they're doing direct mail or driving for dollars (the stuff between Hwy 190, Clear Creek, Stan Schlueter and Fort Hood St - south of Stan Schlueter is all the new housing with no equity).I don't work with renters often in our office, but it seems to me that side does well with rentals as well.

the best hoods are close to subways/trains/ public transportations/ large strip malls (think home depot/walmart).

Was once a more prominent place when agriculture and oil/gas industries employed more rural folks, there were more family farms etc but  just like the countless other hundreds of small towns in KS it is likely dying a slow death.If you want to invest in KS - I think being an out of stater you'd have better luck sticking to larger population centers such as Garden City, Dodge City, El Dorado, Lawrence, Manhattan, Wichita area, Hutchinson, etc etc - I'm not a big fan of Wal Mart - but find places with a Dillons Grocery Store (part of the Kroger family) or Wal Mart in town - those are your larger population centers here that will be a bit more sustainable and have more opportunity than a dying rural town with no industry.Same thing would likely apply in Nebraska, OK and I'd assume other plains states - if you can find a Wal Mart and a large major chain Grocery store in town, they've done most of the market study for you already proving there is something sustainable there.  

I have a few tenants that work at the local Walmarts and whatnot.The local government is pretty pro-active about getting rid of the blight.  

A good school district will cause demand for housing for a long while.More nuanced... there are aspects like- Is there a key piece of info like a new Amazon distribution center opening or a Walmart opening?

WALMART.. was just in the movies where I am from.Not realistic for it to be a reality.Well...