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.

You can listen to this episode on all your favorite platforms: Substack, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, and Overcast.

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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