I always prefer low leverage .

The home values in the South Tampa area tend to be very high priced with the average home values going for over $500K in most areas of South Tampa, so rank and file military members often prefer to go out a bit to purchase.

As a more seasoned real estate investor, what type of real estate investing do you prefer?

We'd prefer if these things NOT jump around on us, since the normal thing to do when they go up is jump right to a conspiracy theory (but no one complains when they go down, of course :P ).

Waterbury is an acquired taste for most people.

I bet that they are on one of those programs where they only have to pay a certain amount for electricity all year round, and so they prefer to heat with electricity because it's "all you can eat", rather than with gas, but I don't know. 

I prefer buildings with units at or above 800 sq/ft, and a minimum of 2/1, ideally 3/1 or 3/2.

This may or may not be feasible given your personal preference/spouse/children, etc.

There are many reasons people prefer to rent or rent instead of buying: they don't have money for a down payment, they have poor credit or they only plan on staying in the area for a few years.  

I do think there is a small market of people who prefer to be more rural but you might not want that to start there if you are looking for your first investment.