Las Cruces is a small college town (home of the New Mexico State University Aggies) with healthy population of federal government workers and military contractors.

I agree with Alecia-I would start with something smaller, find an city/area of town you like. 

Luckily both sites collect the taxes for our place.Our little town did implement a 1% tax that I have to pay separately.

They actually failed to pay taxes in 1983 as well according to the follow up article below. 2 years later in 2017 the County reversed the sale voting 7-4 against “these out of town speculators trying to make a big payday” and for the fine people of their district. https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/SF-supervisors-to-vo...

There’s a huge and badly needed street project coming over the next few years on the main drag in the near west part of town - W.

I'm normally not one that advocates trigger-happy decisions, but IMO this kind of investing needs solid boots on the ground, and you're out of town.

Turnkey (renovated) units will do better and need less, generally, from the get-go.On your collections, Cleveland is a renter town, you renters will pay, you just need a good PM with a collections process.

I'm in a small town with nobody to really network with on a regular basis.

I hope you enjoy small towns that lack diversity.I am sure Dayton has some real estate meetups.

Quote from @Ben Trageser: I would recommend calling the zoning department of the town and asking.