You operate a business with 96% of your income still coming in, while restaurants, bars, other small businesses would beg and plead for 20% of it.

However, if there is industry nearby (shopping centers, restaurants, businesses, etc.) then perhaps the Rural might still be OK as there is an argument that it was checked as Rural because it doesn't quite qualify for Suburban.Here is what you will need to do.

My city has been building new restaurants, houses, apartment complexs and more so I believe this area will grow.

The first and most obvious way is of course, "budgeting" this can help you save money and reconsider going out to eat or going to the park instead of some kind of expensive attraction. another great way is cooking at home, you can save a TON of money by simply buying food to cook at home instead of ordering door dash or going out to the restaurant.

The meetings have great energy, but networking is a challenge in his packed restaurant venue.

With this (awful) approach of pretty much just listing a house on these sites....and hoping for the best, my prediction is you would get pretty much slaughtered in the reviews, which would lead to less bookings, and then eventually reaching the conclusion that STRs don't work.To do it with a better degree of success you would want to purchase the property, put in all the finishing touches that guests want to see such as books about the area, maps, buy new furniture and decor if needed, create a welcome book with recommendations on restaurants and attractions, list it on multiple sites, build your own website/brand, promote it on social media platforms, have professional pictures taken, have your listing completely filled out, be incredibly responsive to every question and message you receive, build a really good guidebook to the point where you are almost an ambassador/tour guide for the area, interview and contract with professional cleaners and have backup cleaners in place, have a relationship with a professional handyperson so they know who you are when you call the first time requesting their service, have several electrical and plumbing contractors identified to call when problems come up, set expectations for your cleaners up front and provide feedback immediately to them when guests have a complaint, and handle all complaints with your guests the way you would want it handled if you were the guest...put the guest first before any profit/money. 

The cap rates in those asset classes have already compressed and they are saturated with people looking to deploy active and passive income into.For over 10 years, I have been screaming from the mountain tops to invest in office, retail, industrial, land development, flex, warehouse, mixed use, restaurants and conversions.

It's one of the few truly "walkable" (safe) areas in Richmond, with shops and restaurants, and the houses are old. 

We've really loved being close to everything: (covid aside) downtown with all the breweries and restaurants, just a few minutes away from hiking trails and a "secret" waterfall, 30 minutes to Seattle via fast ferry etc. 

There is just not enough going on in the specific area (jobs, entertainment, restaurants, child care, shopping) for that price point and getting most anywhere involves I77.