Deep Dive 001: Columbus — Why Is Everyone Suddenly Talking About It?

Build Order’s first ever deep dive opens with Columbus, Ohio.This is a city that is one of the largest in America, and yet is treated like it was recently discovered behind a very large Midwestern curtain.Columbus has many of the ingredients growing cities want: a major state university, relative affordability, a diversified economy, strong logistics infrastructure, and a state government that is, at minimum, pro-business-ish.But growth is beginning to test the system. A surge in data center development alongside major investments from Intel and Anduril have residents and investors asking two big questions. First: did we build in Columbus too far ahead of the boom? And second: does Columbus have the energy capacity and execution know-how to support its long-term bets?By the end of this episode, you’ll have a clearer way to think about Columbus as a growth platform, and understand why an “average” test-market city may have the cleanest industrial growth story in the Midwest… as long as the electrons show up on time.Chapter descriptions:00:00:10 – Introducing the Build Order city framework00:01:48 – Why Columbus feels newly discovered00:03:04 – Columbus’ history and capital city origins00:06:14 – People: demographics, migration, and affordability00:07:44 – People: Columbus as test-market America00:08:51 – People: Ohio State as a talent engine00:11:35 – Jobs: Columbus’s diversified industry base00:13:53 – Jobs: Intel, Anduril, and the new industrial layer00:16:50 – Buildings: real estate signals by asset class00:22:14 – Systems: logistics, water, transit, and energy strain00:28:38 – Rules: tariffs, incentives, taxes, and JobsOhio00:36:38 – SWOT: what’s working, what’s fragile, and what could derail Columbus00:45:08 – The “live, build, invest” conclusionSubscribe for more amazing Build Order content! And if you’re already a subscriber, THANK YOU! Please be a dear and share it. You’ll be our favorite friend of the pod.