With street trolleys gaining traction as a viable option for urban transportation, the Downtown Alliance is proud to kick off the 2009 Urban Renaissance Series featuring Rick Gustafson, Executive Director of Portland Streetcar, Inc. As San Antonio continues to expand, discovering new ways of connecting people through more thoughtful modes of transportation is key.

Plans for areas such as River North will result in a high density, mixed use, mixed income urban residential neighborhoods. With an area this large, maintaining connectivity with both current public transportation options and future River Improvements Project plans is paramount. Experts agree that pedestrian freedom would be complemented by an enhanced transit system in the form of a steel-wheeled street trolley system.

Please join us on Monday, February 23, 2009 for a presentation by Rick Gustafson, an industry expert in Transit Oriented Development. He'll tell the story of the Portland Streetcar, which was part of a Central City development strategy that has resulted in over $3.5 billion in private investment along the new line. Property owners led the effort to establish a streetcar in Portland and a similar effort was conducted in Seattle with the opening of a new line in December 2007.

ULI- the Urban Land Institute, is the preeminent, multidisciplinary real estate forum, facilitating the open exchange of ideas, information, and experience among local, national, and international industry leaders and policy makers dedicated to creating better places. ULI’s mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. ULI is composed of over 36,000 members worldwide, representing every segment of the real estate development community, including property owners, investors, advisers, developers, architects, lawyers, lenders, planners, regulators, contractors, engineers, university professors, librarians, and students.

At the local level, ULI and its members accomplish its mission through District Councils, where local members convene at educational programs and other events to share best practices and learn from each other.

At the request of several San Antonio members of the Urban Land Institute, the ULI national office has asked the ULI Houston District Council to assist with forming a District Council for the San Antonio region. Please join us for this event, and learn how you can become more involved in ULI. For more information about this event and ULI in general, please visit the ULI website at www.uli.org; the ULI Houston website at www.uli-houston.org; or call Ann Taylor, ULI Houston Executive Director, at 713-349-8821.