RE Development - Jumping ship and going to a secondary market?

If you don't mind the slower pace of a smaller city, it will likely improve your quality of life immensely.

There are tons of secondary smaller markets with great development potential - Charleston, Raleigh/Durham area, Louisville, Forth Worth, Boise, Salt Lake City, etc. - Nashville and Austin probably used to be in this category but imo have jumped the shark somewhat.

Downside is you will definitely face some opposition as a newcomer / driving prices up, especially in more "undiscovered" spots like Boise where COVID turned the housing market upside down.

I'm in a similar boat as you. Currently live in a primary market and want to eventually re-locate to a smaller city. Looked into it quite a bit. In general there are less firms located in smaller markets, so less optionality. Could also mean harder to land a job. The firms located in these cities are typically family offices who prefer locals. Just as an example, I looked into relocating to Wilmington, NC at one point. Most firms who invest there are located in Raleigh/Charlotte, and the local firms seem made up almost entirely of people from NC. There were some northerners though! 

Pay is probably less but so is COL. You don't need to step all the way back to townhomes. There's plenty of 6-7 story wrap deals being being in secondary and even tertiary markets. There are firms in say Charleston that build multifamily in larger markets in addition to building in Charleston. 

I jumped to a secondary market a while back, but it was also home for me. Candidly, that made the transition much much easier as everyone I meet knows where I'm from and where I went to high school. I don't think my pace changed at all, and if anything it went up. It's harder to focus on one thing (asset class, submarket, etc.) and make a living, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. You will need to be more nimble and creative, but you should get rewarded if you are. I've enjoyed trying to know everyone and everything that's going on in my market, which would've been impossible in a bigger city. The smaller the market, the more important your ability to connect with people becomes because that is how deals are found, won, and closed. I've found that my opinion on real estate and how to make money has really changed. In my prior market, it really felt like you made money by finding ways by buying or developing right and selling for big pops of appreciation in 2-5 years. Obviously I knew there were many other ways to make a buck, but that's what I saw the most of. In my current spot, everyone that's made a lot of money in real estate never sells. The tax benefits of real estate get discussed a lot more, etc. It's been interesting. 

I wouldn't move to SLC or even Boise unless you are from there or LDS. LDS runs real estate in those markets and if you aren't from there and aren't LDS, good luck. Being from the north and trying to do your own thing in the south can be tough, but by no means impossible.