The View from City Hall

Eric, the veiw from the 28th floor is remarkable. It is on this outdoor observation deck that you learn about the LA Press Club supporting the Lindbergh Beacon, the Kiwanis-supported Bell, and other bits of information from the outdated and sometimes indecipherable guide-panels that show the views of Los Angeles in the 1970s. This history lesson is not on purpose, but it's because the placards have not been updated in 25 years! Won't someone update the water-damaged panels? Tom LaBonge? Eric? Someone? Perhaps it's a project of the City Nerd.... hmm...

Well, I'm put the idea out there. Let me know if you need help doing it... whoever "you" are.

city hall is a stunning building that no one knows about. The Conservancy has a tour of the building once a month and I always encourage my tourgoers to take it too. If you go check it out you must also visit the 4th floor....all of the hallways are lined with historic photos from the Central Public Library's Historic Photo Collection.

It's really sad that the city doesn't make any attempt to make stuff like this known... like you said I can find no mention of this on the city's website. Seems like something that could easily instill a sense of civic pride if only people knew it exists. Anyways now they do, but my question is, what are City Halls normal business hours when you can visit? 9-5 on weekdays? Is it open on weekends?

Fred- Hours of operation: here.

Sometimes, you can get in on the weekend. I've never done it though.

Almost as good, maybe even better, is the roof of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, which I discovered while on jury duty. Free to get in, you just go through security. (It's the patio outside the cafeteria, which is open to the public. But please, for the love of Pete, don't eat there! That is, unless you have a long-held craving for the food of your junior high school lunch room.)

Not as high as the City Hall deck, but fairly high, and you still get the skyscrapers of Bunker Hill looming over you a bit, while peering down on the streets below you. Plus, you're closer to Bunker Hill there than at City Hall. Try it.

Hey buddy do you know of any other buildings besides these in the downtown area where anyone can go and get a glimpse of the city. I remember when I was in junior high I went to the ATT Building but I am not sure if that is still possible????

Try the Bonaventure Hotel. There is a cheesy bar on the top. The rides up the elevators are good, too. There's also the old Transamerica building in Southpark, which is now the new AT&T building.

Being from New York (here 28 years though) I can't understand why the US Bank tower and possibly the 777 Fig (or Flower?) tower don't have observation levels. NY has the Empire State, Rockefeller Center and of course had the WTC observation decks, among others, and they are hugely popular and at least in the ESB case, big money generators. The view from the 73rd floor of the US Bank tower would be something people would pay to see... or is it just too smoggy here too many days??? That's a sad commentary!