It’s official now: San Antonio is a “City on the Rise.’

We know about 10 different people who think they probably coined the phrase, and we’ve heard elected officials, civic leaders, business heavies, artists, architects – you name it – use it in speeches, conversation, and social media. We believe the first official mention was the Sept. 14 essay by 80/20 Foundation Executive Director Lorenzo Gomez for the Rivard Report, “San Antonio: A City on the Rise.”

In the article, Gomez recounts a conversation he had with Rackspace Co-Founder and Chairman Graham Weston that produced the catchy, five-word “micro-script.” Who knows? I still remember when Express-News headline writers came up with the SPUR-FECT headline after San Antonio swept Portland, 4-0, in the 1999 Western Conference Finals. A woman threatened to sue the newspaper if she wasn’t compensated, claiming she had hollered out the phrase from her Game Four seat and surely had been overheard by a sports writer.

View of downtown San Antonio from Judson condominiums.

As The Rivard Report approaches its second birthday in February, we think it’s a good time now to pause and look back on everything new in 2013 that is making San Antonio “a city on the rise” and give it its due. We have our opinions, but we think yours matters more. So help us here. Take our quick and easy survey, feel free to write-in a category we missed, and share with us your favorite new coffeehouse, restaurant, bar, place to live, etc.

Who are the people and places changing San Antonio? The local culinary scene took off in 2013, which we could have said in 2011, 2012, and probably will say again next year. It just keeps getting better. Which new restaurant is pushing the envelope? What new small business is changing the game with a new product or service? What new development or historical restoration is having the greatest impact on downtown?

What individual or organization did something to make the city a better place to live? What act of philanthropy looks to be the most transformative?

Our only criteria is that you cast your vote for something that was created, started, built, finished, or carried out this year. Let the voting begin. We’ll be back with results on or before Jan. 1, 2014.

Jaime Solis is the Director of Marketing and Development for the Rivard Report. You can follow him on Twitter at @_JaimeSolis and contact him at jaime@rivardreport.com.

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