an electric trolley system, which was replaced by the popularity of modern automobiles, but now a new free circulator trolley system, initiated in November 2003, runs down Ponce de León Boulevard. Another distinctive and character-defining feature of the city planned by Merrick are the themed Coral Gables Villages that date to the 1920s and were designed to expand the city's architecture beyond Spanish influence to include Italian, French, and Dutch South African among others. In 1925, roughly simultaneous to the founding of Coral Gables, the University of Miami was constructed on of land just west of U.S. Route 1, approximately two miles south of Downtown Coral Gables. By the fall of 1926, the first class of 372 students enrolled at the university. During World War II, many Navy pilots and mechanics were trained and housed in Coral Gables. Coral Gables has traditionally placed high priority on historic preservation. The city passed its first preservation ordinance in 1973 as many of its founding structures from the 1920s began to reach their 50th anniversaries. Further ordinances were enacted in the 1980s establishing the Historic Preservation Board and in the 1990s establishing the Historic Preservation Department, now called the Historical Resources & Cultural Arts Department. As part of the city's historic preservation program the Historical Resources Department is tasked with researching and identifying significant properties and local landmarks for listing in the Coral Gables Registry of Historic Places as well as on national historic registers. The department also reviews modifications to locally designated landmarks and initiates grant proposals. The Historic Preservation Board is a quasi-judicial body that votes on local landmark designations and other issues pertaining to the historic character of the city. Geography Coral Gables is located at . It is bordered on the west by Red Road (West 57th Avenue) north of Sunset Drive (South 72nd Street) and West 49th Avenue and Old Cutler Roads south of Sunset Drive. It is bordered on the north by Tamiami Trail/U.S. Route 41 (South 8th Street), except for a small section that extends north of 8th Street for eight blocks between Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Douglas Road (West 37th Avenue). On the east, it is bordered by Douglas Road (West 37th Avenue) north of South 26th Street, Monegro Street south of South 26th Street to Cadima Avenue, Ponce De Leon Boulevard south of Cadima Avenue to South Dixie Highway (U.S. Route 1), LeJeune