A stunning twilight scene over Kearny Street this week was a reminder that some of the best things San Francisco has to offer are completely free, and available to anyone who bothers to look up from their phone.

Kearny Street, running through the heart of the Financial District and into North Beach, has long been one of the city's more underrated corridors for golden-hour views. The way the light catches the mix of old and new architecture — pre-war brick facades alongside glass towers — creates the kind of visual contrast that makes photographers and casual walkers alike stop in their tracks.

Scenes like this are a quiet argument for the value of what already exists. San Francisco doesn't need another billion-dollar waterfront development to be beautiful. It needs clean streets and safe sidewalks.

San Francisco's greatest asset is the city itself — the geography, the light, the architecture built by generations past.

Get outside. Look up. It's free.