I know we are not talking similar markets here nor one you might want to own it being so far away but to me I simply look at the numbers and if a deal makes economic senseor not.

Wikipedia - List of Metropolitan Statistical Areas You want a stable economic environment; small towns may be too dependent on a single company or commodity.

Investor beware though, vacancy rates can change based on local economic shifts.  

Houston Housing Market - April 2016 Tyler Bernhard April 14, 2016https://www.har.com/content/mls/DISCLOSURE: All data was provided by the HAR Press Release for March 2016.The HAR press release has just come out, and given the current economic environment in Houston, it's a very comforting report.

The economic and demographic factors like population and job growth favor it.

Yes, you have to be smart but investors should profit from great markets no matter what could happen as RE is more local than natl economics; solid value plays and an excellent team.  

The Chamer of Commerce people are supposed to know where the City is moving and other economical things.  

Even a modest amount of deal flow becomes intractable for a small staff and thus the economics just don't work.  

Now throw in the things like clothing stores, car sales, sporting goods, restaurants, grocery stores, hardware stores, etc and you have a vicious cycle of decline and contraction on a micro economic level. 

After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I made my way over to one of the two major home improvement stores to see if we could get it done more economically there.As it turned out, the store was able to get us great cabinets at about a third of the cost of hand-made ones.