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 framework
00:01:48 – Why Columbus feels newly discovered
00:03:04 – Columbus’ history and capital city origins
00:06:14 – People: demographics, migration, and affordability
00:07:44 – People: Columbus as test-market America
00:08:51 – People: Ohio State as a talent engine
00:11:35 – Jobs: Columbus’s diversified industry base
00:13:53 – Jobs: Intel, Anduril, and the new industrial layer
00:16:50 – Buildings: real estate signals by asset class
00:22:14 – Systems: logistics, water, transit, and energy strain
00:28:38 – Rules: tariffs, incentives, taxes, and JobsOhio
00:36:38 – SWOT: what’s working, what’s fragile, and what could derail Columbus
00:45:08 – The “live, build, invest” conclusion

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