In a city where a one-bedroom apartment costs more than a luxury car and a burrito somehow runs you $18, it's worth remembering that some of the best things in San Francisco are still gloriously, beautifully free.
Case in point: Ina Coolbrith Park, a tiny hilltop gem tucked into Russian Hill that delivers one of the most stunning views of Coit Tower — and the city beyond it — that you'll find anywhere. No $40 admission fee. No reservations. No app required. Just show up, climb the steps, and take it in.
A local artist recently captured the view in a pastel drawing — Coit Tower framed by the park's lush greenery — and it's a reminder of why people fell in love with this city in the first place. Not because of the tech campuses or the government programs or the endless ballot propositions, but because of this: jaw-dropping beauty accessible to anyone willing to walk up a hill.
Ina Coolbrith Park is named after California's first poet laureate, a woman who survived the 1906 earthquake and kept writing. There's something fitting about a place honoring that kind of resilience offering one of the city's best free experiences — no bureaucratic middleman required.
Here's the fiscal conservative's favorite kind of public amenity: a small, well-maintained park that costs relatively little and delivers enormous value. No bloated oversight committee. No $2 million feasibility study. Just a patch of green, some benches, and a view that reminds you why San Francisco's real estate is priced the way it is.
If you haven't been, go. Bring a sketchpad, a book, or just yourself. It's one of the few things in this city that won't send you an invoice afterward.
And to the artist who shared their pastel work — keep drawing. The city needs more people documenting what's worth preserving here, not just what's broken.