Due to the high interest rate, it is hard to make the strategy work -- the rent to price ratio needs to be very high (1.5%) to make positive cash flow.

I currently have a 30-yr fixed rate mortgage on a single family home that is my primary residence.

When purchasing, my goal was to cash flow a certain dollar amount based on the open market or section8 rates.

For real estate the will calculate what your return would be if you purchase a single-family home at market rate and hold it for ten years.

Interest rates are what they are, so find some different strategies to make it work.

DT Long Beach: beachy urban setting with smaller units 1bdr; close to tourist attractions, and thinking I can STR one unit; BUT high crime rate (90 percentile); properties are older but more attractiveIs it better to go into a slightly better neighborhood in boring Riverside or a more crime ridden area of cool kid Long Beach?

What you are dealing with is a negotiation issue, not a rate issue.

Rent would be ~1,400 to 1,800 / month which is above market rate but housing is in very high demand and price is in line with what seniors who live on their own would be willing to pay based on my conversations with local Real Estate Agents. 

The agent will have access to the biggest platform to get the property sold though, the MLS, so forgoing even a cut rate agent will create more of a loss than the agent fees themselves. 

Patience can be your best friend and if you attempt to over leverage a property it can come back to hurt you.Some will recommend buying subject 2 where you could take over an existing mortgage that could be at a substantially lower rate - but if the lender finds out and calls the loan that could also be very bad.