Chronicle Live: A celebration of retiring Urban Design Critic John King

To walk through downtown San Francisco with Chronicle Urban Design Critic John King is to learn about the city in layers. There are the structures and facades, each with their own details and dimensions. There are the stories behind their construction, of political maneuvering, backroom deals and colorful characters. Then there are his impressions of how it all fits together, how the changes in the urban landscape shape our daily lives.
For the past 24 years, John has brought all this to Chronicle readers through thoughtful critiques, in-depth explorations, city walks and even a GPS-guided audio tour. But on Oct. 4, he’ll sign off to begin his retirement.
Before he goes, he’ll sit down with reporter Nora Mishanec to share tales and takeaways from his career. Join the Chronicle live at Manny’s at 6 p.m. on Sept. 25 for a retirement celebration and conversation.

You’ll hear about how John carved out his role at the Chronicle despite no formal training in architecture, his process for reviewing a building and the Bay Area hotel he called a “fantasy mansion from the days before income tax” in one early review.
John will also discuss the pieces he never got around to writing, why parklets are as important as high rises and why he wrote his master’s thesis about Chronicle legend Herb Caen. He and Nora will also leave plenty of time for questions, giving you one last chance to pepper him with queries about ugly towers and good hats before he hangs up his byline in favor of a deadline-free life.

Join us to celebrate John’s remarkable career and reserve your tickets today!

Host or Publisher Manny's