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Los Angeles City Hall
Rating Details »
Category: Landmarks & Historical Buildings [Edit]
Neighborhood: Downtown200 N Spring St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 485-2121
6 reviews for Los Angeles City Hall
All I have to say is if anyone is gonna shoot up City Hall, it's gonna be a disgruntled employee with a badge, who passes the security guards at the entrance with no prob. It's not gonna be one of the poor souls having to stick their bags through the scanner, walk through the metal detector, and show their ID to check in. Well, it's not like the security officers really care what they're doing anyway, so I guess it's really not that big a hassle. Eh. Plus you get a shiny new "Visitor" sticker to place over any unsightly stains you may have incurred throughout the day.
I come to City Hall for work so it's nothing new to me, but if I was a tourist, I'd be pretty impressed with it. The classic architecture is beautiful on the outside and inside. The best part of the place is probably the view of Downtown LA and beyond, which is just spectacular. In overhearing Japanese/Chinese tourists coming in and asking where to find the view by using a number of hand gesture techniques (including pointing at their guide books, pointing up, shrugging their shoulders, and simply standing in front of a security guard in silence hoping the guy will understand), the guards always seem to point them to the third floor. WTF. What do you see on the third floor? THE THIRD FLOOR--that's what you see!!! To it's credit, the third floor is gorgeous and there are some historical artifacts to see, along with a rotating art exhibit on the bridge, but not a damn view.
For the real view, you gotta go to the 26th/27th floor for the money-shot view of LA. It's AMAZING!! It's a little Indiana Jonesy to get there because you have to take a ground floor elevator to the 10th floor, then take a new elevator to the 22nd floor, and then take a new elevator to the 26th floor, then walk up the grand stairway, past the Tom Bradley bust, to the roof (aka 27th floor). But once you get there, you'll enjoy it.
There's really nothing else to do here unless you have "official" business, like bitching out City bureaucrats. However, there's a cafe on the 2nd floor and all the City Council offices on the 4th floor if you wanna take a peek and/or complain about something. Just don't go apeshit on people.
Parking note: Rather than struggle to find street parking, paying an arm and a leg to park at the Cathedral, or parking at a public lot that will require a walk up and down hills, just park in the underground LA Mall across from City Hall on Main Street (entrance is actually on Los Angeles Street, north of Temple Street). You pay for every 20-30 minutes or so and the maximum is something like $13. Plus, there are a number of eateries in the underground mall in case you're always hungry like my fat ass. Try the Pita/Mediterranean place. Oh, and a CVS Pharmacy is down there too.
No love for City Hall? It's actually a pretty cool building...
"Los Angeles City Hall was was completed in 1928. It has 27 floors and is 454 feet (138 m) high, and has undergone a seismic retrofit that will allow the building to sustain minimal damage and remain functional after a magnitude 8.2 earthquake. The concrete in its tower was made with sand from each of California's 58 counties and water from its 21 historical missions. The city hall's distinctive tower was based on the purported shape of the Mausoleum of Maussollos. An image of City Hall has been on Los Angeles Police Department badges since 1940."
Ok, I didn't actually know all of that. I yanked it from Wikipedia.
But seriously, why all the hate? Ok, parking sucks and yes, the security guards are on a power trip and yeah, it's easy to get lost once inside (I actually worked here for a few months and still probably couldn't tell you how to get around). Oh and the elevator system is a little funky too. But City Hall is really quite a pretty building and the observation room at the top of the tower is wonderful on a sunny day~ calm and peaceful, with a great view.
Okay... this is not a biased review or anything, but- I honestly love City Hall!
Albeit, every time that I go there, I get lost going from 1 elevator to another or end up in the Express elevator that doesn't stop on the floor that I want can get frustrating, nothing beats the atmosphere of being around all the policy making and hoopla of unhappy constituents.
There's a Giulianno's coffee shop that serves STARBUCK'S Coffee both on the 2nd floor and on the 1st floor (close to the Mall)
If you are planning to visit city hall, call your council members office and tell them what you will be doing there. Normally, they ask for a little information & allow you to park in Lot 2 on Los Angeles Street. You just cross the bridge from CH East to CH Main and you are where all the action is... ENJOY!!!
When you first walk in, you see a couple of bored, unsociable security guys or perhaps they are cops. They ask for i.d., and give you a visitor sticker. Then you're on your own to find where you need to go. It is very difficult to find which room you are looking for and there is basically no direction, signs or a desk where you can ask. They told me what floor, but then what? The hallways are multi-directional and really wide, with lots of doors. You wander around for a while in big hallways that are dark and rather stale looking. Then you figure out that there is a east and west wing to City Hall that is connected by a walk way. There are many civic workers that are walking around, knowing where to go, so ask one of them as they have been lost there before and know exactly what you're talking about.
Look for the Los Angeles Mall on Temple and Los Angeles. There are a few stores like CVS and a food court. This is where visitors park, it is costly and difficult. $1.50 per 20 minutes, with a maximum of $13.80. You would think they would want community involvement and have validation or low parking rates, but no - they don't. If you use a different entrance from before, even if you are on the right level, you can find yourself fenced in as certain areas are restricted for police and security vehicles only. Worst parking situation I've ever encountered. If you get lost in the Century City mall, this one is a lot worst than that.
It was a good day to be in downtown. We started the afternoon with some cultural enrichment at the Cherry Blossom Festival in J-Town and ended it at a concert in City Hall.
This is a review of Los Angeles City Hall as a music venue rather than a government building.
The setup was sweet. The DJ area was at the top of the steps. There was the usual lighting for concerts and it perfectly worked with the already lighted City Hall and surrounding city skyline (well, as much as LA can offer). Not only did they sell Beer and Wine but also cocktails with real liquor (not just with Soju but with Vodka, Jack, etc. - don't get me wrong I like Soju but under a different environment). I don't usually ever notice or mention this but they had nice porto-potties that almost looked like bathrooms in a house including framed pictures.
The night started with Jason Bentley (KCRW) and ended with Groove Armada. It was a really good night of music and dancing under the downtown night sky. Towards the end of the night the crowd rushed the steps to the DJ. A mix of a New Order sample with Groove Armada's "I see you baby (shaking that ass)" and finally at the end, Justice remix of "Never Be Alone". The crowd was going crazy dancing and singing/yelling "Because we are.. your friends... you'll never be alone again.. come on.. come on..." Anyways, you had to be there.
Cool Bldg. I assume just a few individuals in LA who have businesses and requires licenses and permits can relate to this place. Overall, required for me in order to run a business. Could be anything from street vendor selling the hot tasty fire TACOS or just Hollywood madame disguising her brothel as a legit business. You need a license n permit
