A local artist recently captured the view from the top of the Vallejo Stairway — technically part of Ina Coolbrith Park, named after California's first poet laureate — and honestly, it's the kind of image that makes you understand why people keep paying $3,500 a month for a studio apartment in this town.

For the uninitiated, the Vallejo Stairway climbs steeply through Russian Hill, offering panoramic views of the bay, the Transamerica Pyramid, Coit Tower, and the waterfront. It's one of those hidden San Francisco gems that even longtime residents sometimes overlook — no entrance fee, no reservations, no six-month permitting process required. Just show up and walk.

As one local pointed out, the stairway is actually a named park — Ina Coolbrith — a fact that plenty of San Franciscans don't even know. That's the beauty of this city's public spaces when they're left relatively untouched by the heavy hand of municipal management. No one needed a $4 million feasibility study to make this spot great. The geography did the work.

It's worth noting that San Francisco's smaller parks and stairways are maintained on shoestring budgets compared to the big-ticket projects that eat up Rec & Park's attention. And yet places like Ina Coolbrith consistently deliver more joy per dollar than most of the city's splashier investments.

There's a lesson in that, if anyone at City Hall is paying attention: sometimes the best thing government can do is maintain what already works, keep it clean, keep it safe, and get out of the way.

If you haven't made the climb recently, do yourself a favor this weekend. Your legs will burn. Your soul will thank you.