“Why do you live in Columbus? You can live anywhere you want!” True. I can live anywhere I want. I want to live and work right where I am. I hate that question.

Having extolled the virtues of Columbus elsewhere, I shall spare you the tedium of repetition.

Not unlike many other company founders, I hate waste. Much of the development we have seen in the past few decades of this country have been optimized for the short term. Occupy it now, worry not about how to care or to pay for it until later. Tear down whatever was there and make another one of your buildings—and abandon it when you need to move on elsewhere. The next guy will repeat the cycle all over again. Horrid waste, that.

Development of the city, the sort that is sustainable and makes for a city that will last, interests me. I like spaces where people can encounter one another and get to know others who are more than a mirror image of themselves. While I am no expert on the topic I can see how the rain garden concept is at least sensible and I certainly like to see some green in the city core.

This sort of development also helps to show that Columbus understands its place in the world and behaves appropriately. A big city that refuses to act its size is like the man who has biologically reached adulthood but is no more in control of his environment than a teenager—a guy. A man should have presence; he should own his space. A city should do the same; people should know where they are.

Even the best ideas need execution if they will live up to their potential. So our development is done with an eye toward the long term and we have the likes of rain gardens. Lovely. We even have plaques to tell the citizenry and visitors all about what we are doing here.

If we are going to be all grown up, though, we are going to have to pay attention to the details and take care to get them right. How can we expect the world to take us seriously when our official commemorative plaques fail to use correct language?

Details matter. The time to get them right is not overspending but protection of the investment made in the big picture.