You can outgrow a place without becoming ungrateful for what it gave you.

Growing past something is not a criticism of it. The town that raised you did its work; the job that trained you did its work. Needing more now says something about your size, not their inadequacy, and you can leave while carrying real gratitude.

When you go, try saying plainly what a place or a person gave you. Not as a softener, just as an accurate accounting. It makes the leaving cleaner and spares you the story where you had to make something bad in order to be allowed to go.