Let that sink in for a moment. In a region where a mediocre brunch runs you $45 and parking feels like a second mortgage, two world-class art museums are handing you free admission 52 days a year. The de Young houses everything from American art to textiles to contemporary installations. The Legion of Honor offers one of the finest collections of European fine art on the West Coast, in a building that's itself a work of art overlooking the Golden Gate.

This is what public cultural institutions should look like — accessible without a taxpayer-funded circus of programs, commissions, and oversight committees. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco manage to do something straightforward: open the doors and let people in. No equity task force required.

It's also a reminder that San Francisco, for all its dysfunction, still has extraordinary assets. The city spends billions on problems that never seem to get solved, yet some of its best offerings cost residents literally nothing. There's a lesson in there somewhere about the inverse relationship between government spending and actual value delivered.

So this Saturday, instead of doomscrolling through the latest Board of Supervisors debacle, take yourself to the de Young or the Legion of Honor. Bring the kids. Bring a date. Bring your visiting parents who keep asking why you live here. For once, you'll have a really good answer.

Pro tip: The de Young's observation tower is free every day — not just Saturdays — and offers one of the best views in the city. You're welcome.