Humorist Mark Twain is reputed to have said there were only three cities in America that were different from all the others...San Francisco, New Orleans and San Antonio. San Antonio certainly has its own personality, a busy financial center, military headquarters and tourist destination all wrapped up in a Texas-Hispanic style that charms you from the moment you step out onto the Paseo del Rio or River Walk that winds through the city's downtown. Depending upon which census you use, San Antonio is either the second or third largest city in Texas (vying with Dallas for second banana spot behind Houston) with a population of 1.2 million and a physical size of more than 400 square miles.

It is one of the oldest cities in America, having been founded in 1718, although Spanish explorers and missionaries discovered the site along the San Antonio River in 1691, on the feast day of St. Anthony, thus the name "San Antonio." On the later date, Father Antonio Olivares of the Franciscan Order, established the Mission San Antonio de Valero, one of five built along the San Antonio River, to help Christianize the native indians and to provide Spanish explorers and military with safe refuges. Today it is known as theTexas Mission Trail.

But, perhaps, San Antonio's greatest historic moment arrived in March, 1836 when a group of rebellious Texans holed up in the Mission San Antonio de Valero, by then known as "the Alamo" (Spanish for cottonwood) and battled 4,000 Mexican soldiers for 13 days. Led by such historic figures as William B. Travis, Tennessee frontiersman Davy Crockett and knife fighter Jim Bowie, the 189 defenders fought a desperate battle in the Texas war of independence from Mexico, finally succumbing to overwhelming artillery and troops on March 6, 1836. All were slaughtered in battle or executed afterwards by soldiers led by Mexican General, later President, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. On April 21, 1836, Santa Anna met Texan General Sam Houston, "the father of Texas," at the battle of San Jacinto, just east of the present-day city of Houston. As Houston's rag-tag soldiers rampaged through the Mexican troop formations the cries of "Remember the Alamo" rang across the battlefield, summoning up the memory of the massacre as a rallying point. Though wounded, Houston would accept Santa Anna's sword of surrender while seated, fittingly, under a cottonwood tree, so the legend goes.

Today, the Alamo is San Antonio's tourism centerpiece, drawing the bulk of some 20 million tourists who come to the city each year. The old mission is the city's most recognized building, and an image is included in the city's flag. And, as most Americans know, San Antonio is nicknamed "the Alamo city," in honor of its best-known landmark.

Much of the Spanish architecture of old San Antonio is gone, replaced by gleaming skyscrapers and busy highways of commerce. San Antonio is a major southern financial center, headquarters for several large banking institutions and home to a cross-section of business that ranges from technology and communications to medical research and energy. It is also a center for U.S. military operations, with no fewer than four major installations located in and around the city. The South Texas Medical Center, the largest medical research and care provider in the South Texas region, has some 22 different hospitals, clinics, teaching and research facilities, including the University of Texas Health Science Center and the Audie L. Murphy Veterans Hospital, named for the late Texan and World War II Medal of Honor Recipient who is the most decorated soldier in American history.

San Antonio is the seventh (or eighth) most populated city in the U.S., and the eight-county San Antonio MSA has a population of just under 1.9 million. Located on the Balcones Escarpment, a geological uplift, the city is near the fabled Texas Hill Country and sits astride the Edwards Aquifer, an underground limestone feature which is one of the largest water-bearing formations in the U.S. With more than 405,000 households, San Antonio's median-priced home is $146,800. Median household income is $36,200.

Home to the 3-time NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs, the city has such diverse entertainment as the River Walk District through downtown, Sea World and the Six Flags Fiesta Texas theme parks, and numerous museums and historical sites. Prominent on the skyline is the 750-foot-tall Tower of the Americas, a remnant of San Antonio's 1968 HemisFair. Restaurants and cafes are skewed to the Hispanic side of the plate, and it is believed that Tex-Mex, the fusion of Texas frontier and Mexican cuisines was invented in the city. One legend says Tex-Mex had its beginnings when Mexican women cooked tamales and chili on small hand-pushed carts and sold them around the Alamo in the early 1900s. Others say it began when a San Antonio restauratuer combined enchiladas, tamales, tortillas, beans and rice on a single plate in the 1930s. Regardless of which is true, San Antonio's restaurant industry offers up a variety of cuisines ranging from the tried and true Tex-Mex to French and Asian.

With its diversity, historic significance and modern-day business environment, San Antonio is well worth including on a list of American cities that offer all of the elements of the good life...climate, schools, jobs and culture. A very good place to put down roots and raise a family.