John Thomas has retired
By Bill Bulkley

Hayes Valley lost an advocate for community open space planning when John Thomas retired from his position as Landscape Architect with the City of San Francisco’s Department of Public Works (DPW) last month. John worked for the City for twenty-three years, during which time he received 13 design awards. He worked on over 60 Recreation and Park Department projects in his career.

John’s involvement with Hayes Valley began in the mid-1990s when he worked with Barbara Wenger and others to complete the community’s vision for Koshland Park.

In 1999, John began work on Octavia Boulevard as part of a team effort that included DPW, Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) and design consultants Allen Jacobs and Elizabeth McDonald. Over his years of public service, John positioned himself as a City intermediary who is interactive with the public through community workshops and the Central Freeway Advisory Committee. John worked with many neighborhood activists including Patricia Walkup, Robin Levitt and Stefan Hastrup.

John believed that the future of open space in Hayes Valley was in the Living Alleys concept as proposed in the Market Octavia Neighborhood Plan – not only in a single design but an implementation as extensive as possible without expending extraordinary amounts of money on fine materials. Hayes Valley will benefit from his care and vision for a long time.

John’s contact information is: John Thomas, 509 Brown Street, Iowa City, IA 52245. johnfredericthomas@gmail.com