Figure out other ways to de-stress your life so you can keep your W2 for as long as possible - outsourcing disliked tasks, working on mental/physical health, shorter commute, etc...Retirement seems like an emotional state of relatively low stress and contentment.  

When investing from a long distance, you will need to build a core 4 team.

The main reason for the suburbs would be that we are sensitive to commute!  

@Susan Owen Try to distance yourself from what has happened previously and just look at what you have in front of you now.

*Boot camp venue and my house is about 3 hr distance.

But it was near a neighboring city (30-45 minute commute) with a lot of potential value. 

There is plenty of affordable real estate within driving distance of your location.. 

It is also a big commuter school with students not needing housing. 

Maybe you can run calculations on condos versus homes in your desired areas or within commuting proximity to see the differences short and long-term. 

I recommend reading “Long-Distance Real Estate Investing: How to Buy, Rehab, and Manage Out-of-State Rental Properties” - I found it to be very helpful when I got started investing 2.5 years ago.