Happy Birthday, Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Poet, painter, co-founder of City Lights, and North Beach's most famous resident, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, turns 90 today.

And did you know that he wants to turn a small block of Vallejo Street into a piazza? The Piazza Saint Francis, he calls it. According to Streetsblog, Ferlinghetti would work with Angela Alioto and Francis Ford Coppola to create some sort of "Italian-style piazza, with inscriptions on the paving stones from up to 30 or 40 authors."

We think this is a swell idea. Considering the massive amount of foot traffic in North Beach, more public space would be a boon to the neighborhood. But the $3.5 million price tag on the project is a huge hurdle, so private funds will be needed.