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London, Paris, New York, Tokyo. 

Everyone would agree that these are world-class cities.

What qualities does a world-class city have? 

Here's a partial list:

1.  Clocks on wall in hotels in other world-class cities

2.  Direct flights to all the other world-class cities

3.  Usually, a beautiful, important, strategic body of water

4.  Great walkable districts with night life, live music

5.  Enough top class restaurants to be interesting to foodies and have a "scene"

6.  World class subway/metro

7.  Cachet as a tourist destination

8.  Great Parks, Museums, symphony & opera

9.  World class luxury hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, the Mandarin, or the Fairmont.

10.   Interesting architecture

11.  Beautiful at night

12.  A great university - usually intertwined with the downtown area bringing a youthful vibe

13.  World class cities are seriously considered to host the Olympics.

14.  Flagship stores by important fashion and retail brands.

I would love for San Antonio to be a world-class city.  And, San Antonio has come a long way in the last 10 years. 

However, that list provides a  reality check.  Part of achieving a goal is being realistic about where you are and how far you still have to go.  

So let's stop calling San Antonio a "world-class city."  It's a untruth.  It masks the fact that we still have a long, long way to go. And, it's a small slight to those cities that actually have put in the work necessary to be truly world-class.  Just because we want it to be true, doesn't make it so.

The people and leadership of this city have always been hard-working, realistic people.  So let's take the next realistic steps on that list and make the next 10 years even better.  With hard work and determination, maybe someday we can tell our children truthfully that they live in a "world-class city."

And then fancy hotels around the world would have to add another clock to their lobby walls.

If I've missed any important elements in my list of qualities - please share in the comments.  I'd love to hear what you consider to be core qualities of a world-class city.