Look at the Hotels that are getting big Government Money, our Taxes, to house all the Illegal Immigrants that this Administration has flooding across our borders.

There was a tree we needed to cut down (very costly) and it bordered the property next door which the city owned.

That leaves us with remote investors - people who invest in real estate across state or national borders without actually living in the area. 

Then go buy another piece or land that borders protected land or land not at risk of adjacent development. 

Intrastate, or domestic, commerce is trade that occurs solely within the geographic borders of one state.

There are also many online sites that provide crime statistics, if that's your primary concern.It's hard for me to mentally map the zoo/botanical garden in Roger Williams Park to neighborhoods outside the Park, but generally speaking the parts of Cranston that border Providence, around the Park (e.g., Elmwood and part of Broad St especially around/past the cemetery), are a bit tougher than ones that don't (e.g., near Park View middle school or parts closer to Edgewood than Providence).As far as self managing vs. using a property management company, I don't really know your situation - e.g., how far away you are, how much time you have to devote to the property, managing service calls, going there if necessary, ability to do your own work, etc.So that's something you'll really need to decide for yourself - though I would say as a new person, you should expect that you'll be there a bit more than you "imagine" you will be (at least that was my experience when I was new 15+ yrs ago).If you do decide to hire it out, I can recommend a couple of local companies.

Buy the $70-$120k properties that border Detroit. 

I'd say in a grid between Alexandria, Cornwall, US border and Quebec border. 

That could be no garage (when all the other homes on the street have one), backing up to or on a busy main street, bordering or in ear shot of active railroad tracks, in airport flight paths, or where the subject property sits next to or across from a trashed house.

He wants to take out some dead bushes, put down mulch, and add some borders to the beds and driveway.