Everybody knows Vancouver the Beautiful. That the rumors are true is good news for the summer tourist market, but this city has come to a curious place in its young history. It wants to be more than just another pretty face. It wants to be world class.
People here talk about it all the time.
If they're writing to the editor to complain about tap water, they add that surely a real world-class city would have better reservoirs. If they call a radio talk show to gripe about traffic, they ask whether the citizens of a real world-class city would tolerate such clogged streets. Actually the drinking water and traffic are not that bad, and the residents know it. They realize that most world-class cities would love to trade for Vancouver's sanitation and road conditions. What they're really doing with all the world-class talk is expressing an undefined anxiety about the future.