One of the cheeseburgers at Thurman Cafe'. (Photo by Berry Tramel)

State capital – both just on the edge of downtown – of a high-population state.

Major university – Ohio State and the University of Texas are two of the nine American schools with more than 50,000 enrollment – that is virtually attached to the capital and/or downtown.

Two major differences, of course. Austin is weird, by self-proclamation and any reasonable evaluation, while Columbus is not. That’s a good thing for Columbus. And you can navigate the traffic in Columbus.

I spent more time Thursday driving around Columbus. I had several interviews with former Buckeyes, and two of them were in the north suburb of Worthington, which strikes me as an Edmond-type place. Lots of new construction, lots of economic vitality.