The Varied City Halls of LA County

Before we absconded for South-East Asia on Christmas Eve of 2013 (and time warping over Christmas Day, not existing on Earth for that day that year), we stopped off at city hall in Pasadena, and if you follow that jump-link, you can see the magnificent building that acts as their city hall. If I said that the picture was the national capitol building in Montevideo, the capitol of Uruguay, any normal American would say, "Um, okay. If you say so," which is just to say that it wouldn't be shocking.

Last week I went with Corrie on an errand for her business to the city hall in West Covina, a city in the northeast of LA County. Outside it wasn't nearly as grandiose of that of Pasadena, but that's not exactly fair. Inside, on the main floor, the second, it had a series of planters that Corrie told me many buildings added in the '70s.

It also had curved rectilinear sconces and spherical light fixtures. It resembled an outdated mall. Every aspect of any city hall were here, and I imagined how weird it would be to work in a bureaucracy like this, in a city hall that reminded me of a mall.

Long Beach has replaced their city hall, or at least demolished the old one, scene in the opening scene in Battlestar Galactics (the original series), the complex known for its brutalist design philosophy. The new one may not be done. I may have to do a whole series of these, but with time like it is, I doubt it will happen anytime soon.