KELSEY CAMPBELL-DOLLAGHAN 06.24.16 9:00 AM In some ways, Columbus is the every-city. It’s at the very center of a state known as the "heart" of America. It is not home to the country’s technological nexus, like San Francisco. It’s not a creative hub the way Portland is. It’s not hosting a thriving experiment in the marijuana industry, like Denver.

Yet Columbus managed to beat out all of these cities—and some 80 others—to win an enormous amount of money that will help it shape itself into something else: the first truly "smart" city.