I would like to buy an investment property whose monthly rent would be
sufficient to cover the mortgage, taxes, maintenance and other misc.
homeownership fees. My target price is 200K, so I need about $1,600 a
month in rent. A townhouse may well be the best way to go, enabling me
to split the mortgage between 2 units and offer a lower per unit rent.
What I would like is a list of towns, 3-5 minimum,  anywhere in the US
is acceptable where I could find an inbalance between rents and
housing costs (rents high relative to home prices) The proposed towns
cannot be too small, say 30,000 population minimum. My goal is not to
flip this property but rather to hold it for 30+ years. Long term
appreciation is of course desired, but I cannot realistically afford a
monthly cash outflow to acieve such, I need an immediete breakeven.

Good news/bad news. Bad news: You're making a number of
false/incorrect assumptions. First, don't go into it with a price
point in mind. If you want positive cash flow, that's fine. But the
cities and properties I'm going to suggest cost far less than
$200,000. If you want to spend $200,000, that's fine--buy two. (Or,
1-1/2, as the case may be.) And I understand your logic about a
townhouse, but you're already looking at long-distance management; now
you want two management headaches in one property. And there are other
ways of maximizing your rental income. Also, your 30-year time frame
is too long, even in a buy-and-hold situation. Yes, you might end up
holding it for 30 years. But set your sights on about 10 years.
Further, your numbers are off somewhat; you're not figuring in enough
to allow for vacancies, maintenance, repairs, and management. Figure
1.5 months of vacancy a year; figure management fees equal to 1
month's rent; figure repairs at roughly 2% of the property's cost.

Good news: There are plenty of places around the country that'll yield
positive cash flows. Baltimore, Maryland, is one. Gastonia, North
Carolina, is another. Greenville, South Carolina, is another. I've
heard (but don't know from personal experience) that areas of Michigan
and Indiana) are also very good--high rent in relation to purchase
price.

Hope that helps.