Best cities to start your CRE career

NYC...everywhere else is irrelevant

But really to not be a troll, its depends. This is real life, there is no reason to move to LA for a RE job if you know you want to be back in Atlanta in 5 years anyways. If you have a network, where is it? If you want to end up back somewhere where would it be? Real estate happens in every city which comes with ups and downs, it means you can find that type of work anywhere. Its not like you're asking if you can be a commodity trader in LA. But your RE experience can often end up being localized which makes it harder to change markets than say an actuary

I know people who would never in their life move more than an hour form the ocean, or never move somewhere there isn't snow in the winter. Whats important to YOU? Live your life because you're not going to be Jonathan Gray, sorry.

I'm bullish on Dallas.

Wherever you want to live because your network will matter.

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I am sorta sorry, but not really, for saying NYC 200%. No matter where you plan on ending up, creating a network in the capital of the world is beyond valuable.

No doubt the city has a ton of flaws, but this environment will absolutely shape you into a more successful person.

Edit: Why on earth have I been getting MS???? Not one thing I said was incorrect.

Denver.

The whole Front Range will be developed over the next 30 years through both sprawl and infill. Capital and people are pouring in, job and income #s are up and seen to be continuing in that direction, economic base is diversified and on the cutting edge of several industries (aerospace, military, tech, outdoors gear, tourism, logistics, etc). The climate and natural environment inherent to Colorado is unmatched and naturally draws people in almost regardless of economic condition. The culture is open, entrepreneurial, friendly, and still embodies many of the traditional live and let live values that made the West so great. The lifestyle and culture emphasizes a great live-work balance and social expectations are to live a healthy active lifestyle. People are generally friendly, so it's much easier to network, break into what you are looking for, and create amazing opportunities for yourself.

I'm a bit biased because it was always the place I wanted to live and is a great place to live, but considering the basic economic and demographic fundamentals, there aren't many places better to build CRE career than the Front Range. Every few weeks I see another person from my home moving there, and there are many multiples of that who would love to live here, but can't move from a plethora of reasons.

Really, it's about finding the place you really want to live, then going and making it happen. But the fundamentals can't be denied that the Front Range provides incredible opportunities to make it happen.

The problem is you've named 2 very different jobs. If you want to be in brokerage, the definite, no more questions needed answer is NYC. Obviously you can be in brokerage elsewhere, but from a pure dealmaking standpoint, there is a concentration of money and buyers located in NYC you don't get anywhere else. The skills you learn there are broadly applicable anywhere else.

If you want to be a developer, it is completely unimportant where you go. What is important is that you build local networks and understand local regulations, laws, zoning, etc. That knowledge, broadly speaking, is not transferable. Yes, I could move from NYC to Atlanta and would still know how to manage the direct construction process, but I wouldn't know who to call when Con Edison was doing work in front of my street, wouldn't know who to call at the department of buildings to get plans approved, wouldn't know which local politicians were pro development and which against. And that's the whole development game. A bad developer is better in their own market than a great developer is who is fresh off the plane, so to speak.

Unless you have strong ties to, and network in, a specific tertiary city, you should aim to start your career in a major US city.

In no order:

• New York

• Miami

• San Francisco

• Atlanta

• Los Angeles

• Boston

• Chicago

• Washington, DC

• Dallas

• Houston

Maybe some others (Phoenix?) That in no way means you can't find a great opportunity in a smaller city, like Highwoods in Raleigh, but it doesn't hurt to play the odds.

For development...it doesn't really matter so long as you're in a major market.

If you take a look at the top 25 national multi-family developers...none are headquartered in NYC...and the same is true with the top 10 national office developers.

Big developers have to be geographically diverse in order to feed their development pipelines...so even if you're located in a specific market...you should gain some exposure to numerous markets (depending...of course...on your role).

Charlotte my dude

Nothing to note beyond what's been said, other than my real estate prof is super bullish on Bozeman, MT.