John Reid was born and raised in San Francisco. He studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Except for his time in Paris, Reid lived in San Francisco.

Before opening his own firm, Reid worked as a draftsman for Willis Polk and Daniel Burnham.

As City Architect, he designed many important municipal buildings including public schools, firehouses and hospitals.

In 2020, the San Francisco School Names Advisory Committee recommended that a school be renamed if the name of the school met any of the following criteria:

• Anyone directly involved in the colonization of people.
• Slave owners or participants in enslavement.
• Perpetrators of genocide or slavery.
• Those who exploit workers/people.
• Those who directly oppressed or abused women, children, queer or transgender people.
• Those connected to any human rights or environmental abuses.
• Those who are known racists and/or white supremacists and/or espoused racist beliefs.

The committee compiled a list of forty-four schools that should be renamed. The list includes Junipero Serra Elementary, George Washington High School, Jefferson Elementary, Monroe Elementary, Abraham Lincoln High School, Roosevelt Middle School, Herbert Hoover Middle School, Paul Revere K-8, Francis Scott Key Elementary, John Muir Elementary, Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary, and Dianne Feinstein Elementary.

Five schools designed by Reid are on the list: Balboa High School, Commodore Sloat Elementary, Everett Middle School, Mission High School and Sherman Elementary School.

Three schools designed by Reid escaped the inquisition: Galileo High School, High School of Commerce, and Pacific Heights Elementary School.