San Antonio: where the good life for business meets the good life for living.

The 10 million tourists who visit San Antonio each year only get a taste of what natives are able to enjoy year-round. For when it comes to quality of life, the Alamo City consistently ranks among the most livable cities in America.

A favorable climate, affordable housing, low cost of living and a thriving, diverse economy all help to create an attractive lifestyle for a city that has forged ahead with a clear vision of its future while carefully pveserving the elegance and charm of its colorful past.

Environmental Winners

Whether they be tourists, shoppers or retirees, one thing they can all count on is mild weather year round. San Antonio enjoys more than 300 days of sunshine annually -- the average temperature in January is 52 degrees and, in July, it is 86 degrees.

Environmentally, San Antonio is among the cleanest and the greenest. In fact, the World Resources Institute in Washington, D.C., awarded the city its top environmental ranking in the nation for 1993.

The award, based on eight environmental criteria -- two air pollution measurements, quality of drinking water, toxic chemical releases, energy use, Superfund sites (toxic waste sites designated for cleanup by federal Superfund monies), mass transit and motor vehicle use -- scored San Antonio high in all categories, enough to bump two-time winner Honolulu to fourth place.

"We are a pro-growth city, using practical means to protect our environment, and I think this shows you can do the two together," said San Antonio Mayor Nelson Wolff.

San Antonio also ranks among the least congested cities in the nation when it comes to traffic, thanks in part to the city's extensive highway system. According to the Roadway Congestion Index, a report developed by the Texas Transportation Institute, San Antonio rated near the bottom -- 39th out of 50 -- on a list of major U.S. cities in terms of traffic congestion, even though the city ranks 10th in population. At #1, Los Angeles rated the most congested.

Housing/Education Factor

Another important "quality of life" factor is housing. San Antonio's real estate market is among the hottest in the nation. In April of this year, U.S. News & World Report ranked San Antonio the No. 1 housing market in America. According to the National Association of Realtors, the median cost of a home in San Antonio for 1993 was $77,000, which is 28 percent below the national median of $106,800. Homes in San Antonio are available at less than half the cost of comparable housing in some cities in California.

Education is a vital ingredient in San Antonio's future. With five accredited universities and one accredited college offering degrees in all major fields of study, the city has a diverse roster of institutions of higher education -- Incarnate Word College, Our Lady of the Lake University, St. Mary's University, Trinity University, The University of Texas Health Science Center and The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Three colleges -- Palo Alto College, San Antonio College and St. Philip's College -- make up San Antonio's Alamo Community College District, the second-largest district in the state and 11th-largest in the nation with more than 35,000 students enrolled each semester.

The city's vast public school system includes the recent creation of three magnet high schools: Health Careers High School, Business Careers High School and the International School of the Americas.

Health Care Mecca

San Antonio serves as a regional health care center, serving the more than 3 million people of South Texas and many more who travel from Mexico. With over 2,800 doctors and 32 private and public hospitals, the city offers quality, affordable health care.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio was established in the city 20 years ago and, today, serves as a national leader in cutting-edge medical technology. Other facilities such as the San Antonio Heart Institute, which is one of only six centers in the U.S. testing a totally artificial heart implant, and the Cancer Therapy & Research Center, which is conducting national Phase I trials of cancer drugs, are also national health care leaders.

San Antonians have access to an exceptional medical community in a low cost environment. According to the American Chambers of Commerce Researchers Association (ACCRA), the average cost of a hospital bed per night was $309 for the third quarter of 1993, while in Los Angeles, the average cost was $601.

Attractions Abound

In San Antonio, you'll not only find the state's top two tourist attractions -- the Alamo and the River Walk -- but also an abundance of museums, sporting events, and dining establishments to enjoy.

San Antonio's four major art museums feature a range of art collections, from Ancient Egypt to 20th Century Modern, from Texas history to Mexican Folk Art.

The sports fan will find the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, the San Antonio Missions (AA Farm Club of the Los Angeles Dodgers), as well as professional tennis, soccer and ice hockey. Golf enthusiasts can enjoy several PGA tournaments as well as play on 16 private and public courses.

Perhaps San Antonio's international flair is best reflected in its year-round spirit of fiesta: the Texas Folklife Festival in August; the Fiesta de Las Luminarias in December, when thousands of candles line the river symbolically lighting the path to Bethlehem and more than 70,000 lights are strung in trees overhead; and, in the spring, THE Fiesta, a 10-day gala celebration marking the Battle of San Jacinto when Texas won its independence from Mexico.

The completion of the Alamodome, a 65,000-seat domed stadium that opened in May 1993, added to the city's already star-studded lineup of attractions, including major theme parks such as Fiesta Texas -- a bigger-than-life musical and amusement park located at the foot of 100-foot cliffs; and, Sea World of Texas, the world's largest marine life park.

Also indicative of the growth of tourism in San Antonio was the opening in early 1993 of the $100 million Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort. The state's first destination resort, complete with a championship golf course and 950-foot-long Ramblin' River for river tubing, the Hyatt facility is expected to be the catalyst for the development of the area's resort industry.

In fact, plans for another destination resort are already in the works at La Cantera, a 1,200-acre mixed-use entertainment and hospitality development in northwest San Antonio that will encompass a $40-million, 400,000-square-foot retail center, the Fiesta Texas theme park and an 18-hole championship golf course. The complex may also include a 500-room resort hotel.

Shopping Magnet

San Antonio is home to one of the nation's largest and most successful malls, North Star Mall, which contains more than 200 retailers, including Saks Fifth Avenue and Marshall Field's. Downtown shoppers can visit the $200 million, 1.6 million square foot Rivercenter Mall, which wraps around a 500-foot extension of the San Antonio River Walk and offers 135 shops and cafes.

Downtown dining offers a wide variety of cuisine to choose from, as does the rest of the city. Residents and tourists alike can treat themselves to margaritas and fajitas, wine and escargot, or steak and lobster at any of San Antonio's fine restaurants.

In all, the quality of life in San Antonio appears to have earned a special place in the hearts of the millions of people who come to visit each year, ensuring it a place alongside San Francisco, New Orleans and Boston as one of Will Rogers' "four unique cities in America."