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Get your party hats out – the turns 10 today! Make plans to attend its party Aug. 12 at Jamison Square in the Pearl.

Unfortunately, like many 10 year olds, the streetcar is creating some headaches.

The $148.3 million, 3.3-mile eastside streetcar expansion has been delayed five months due to glitches in manufacturing at Clackamas-based streetcar producer Oregon Iron Works.

The Streetcar in Portland has it roots in a feasibility study done in 1990. Nine years later, construction began on the westside tracks.

Check out the city’s for the streetcar. Highlights include:

• Reduced emissions and increased transportation efficiency

• Increased community health from reduced emissions in the city

According to the plan, riding a streetcar gets you somewhere roughly two to three times faster than walking. Not that fast! It might be hard to convince Portlandlers to jump on board. But as someone who once waited at 10^th Avenue and Alder Street to catch the streetcar to Powell’s (three blocks away) when he first moved here, I can say the streetcar certainly appeals to tourists.