Been to the San Jose City Hall once before inside but I recently came for a Dom Dolla Concert. It's amazing to see San Jose have big concerts and do a Downtown shutdown in that area. Overall it was an okay experience for us, maybe it was just the vibes and the crowd more so the venue. I would ideally give it a 3 star but since the San Jose City Hall is its own entity, I don't want to give them a bad review. Starting with the lines to get in, it was very poorly run with people cutting and a HUGE bottleneck of people. From what I saw there wasn't enough rails and check in staff to help with the event so they were going so slow. Inside it was amazing to see the festival go on with apartments, traffic light in the middle of the venue and just felt like a street festival. I noticed a lot of police too which was great to see even though we got caught up in the middle of a fight and got her drinks spilled. read more

This rating is for City Hall as a venue and event space. I had an amazing time at the Kehlani concert in downtown San Jose, which kicked off the Super Bowl weekend as a Block party. Having the VIP area include the rotunda and City Hall and the second floor balcony to view. The stage was amazing. They had two or three blocks of Santa Clara St. blocked off for the event With lots of food trucks and food stands. read more

Went for a permit application and got it done. Everyone was professional and courteous. The building inside and out is beautiful. read more

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Friends and I came here for a fun Kim Possible/Shego cosplay photoshoot. While we didn't go inside, we had a lot of fun exploring the grounds of City Hall, and made good use of the plaza, stairs, and architectural structures of this location. Right in front of city hall is the popular art installation Sonic Runway, is a light-art installation that visualizes the speed of sound. While we didn't get any photos with this (it was broad daylight), it's a very popular spot for night photography. read more

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(12/15/2025) This was my first time visiting City Hall, and unfortunately my experience was very unpleasant. I went in to file a fire report claim for my car. When I arrived on the second floor, I pressed the service button at the window to ask for help, as I was unfamiliar with how the process works. The employee at the window was immediately rude and impatient toward my sister and me. She told us to stop being loud, even though we were simply trying to get assistance. I apologized and explained that it was my first time there, but she continued to respond with an angry attitude and made me feel uncomfortable. She told us to sit in the waiting area and said that everyone was on lunch and that we would be helped later, in a very rude tone. However, she ended up printing my claim within five minutes, which made the lunch comment confusing and unnecessary. Overall, the employee was extremely unprofessional and unfriendly. She clearly did not want to help customers and made the experience stressful for no reason. I would not recommend coming here if you expect respectful customer service. read more

The city hall and the rotunda specifically is one of the more creatively designed buildings in the city and is the perfect event space for a wedding or other type of event. The lights can be customized to display whatever color you want and the glass ceiling is a perfect showcase that takes advantage of the natural light. The bathrooms are also accessible and clean and there are other smaller meeting spaces on the perimeter of the rotunda building that can be used as needed read more

San Jose City Hall - Inside the Rotunda - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

The mood of the music is too slow paced, abstract oriented, and moody, almost depressing. The spooky music was great maybe for the Burning Man festival or inside an art museum, but does not fit outside in Downtown San Jose at night when people are in an area where they are concerned about safety. When driving past at night, the place comes across like a haunted sacrificial altar. IMO downtown San Jose music should be festive, upbeat, and easily accessible to the widest range of audience. Isn't the goal of downtown supposed to invite people to stay downtown longer and socialize? Instead, the music makes people want to think about what is wrong with life, and either leave to go meditate on it, or leave for somewhere else to have fun. (The switch to more festive Christmas music seemed to improve the mood there last week) read more

San Jose City Hall - View from across the street - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

I had a great experience at City Hall to get a marriage license. We got there a little before they opened at 8am which I highly suggest. A lot of people get there early to try to avoid the wait. It's similar to the DMV. You're given a number when you check in and wait to be called. They were incredibly efficient and it made the process go by quickly. read more

This review is for the architecture wonder and the fantastic views that both residents and tourists are able to enjoy at no cost. My favorite colleague and I went for boba during our lunch break, expanding our horizons beyond Santa Clara, and since we found ease and free parking at the nearby Grocery Outlet, we decided to take advantage of being there and visiting the City Hall. The fresh drops from the steam were amazing during a hot day, it created a nice visual. The whole rocks, water, metal, glass combination is great and looks like a great place to work and visit. We went inside the hall and saw a cool statue of Columbus (the smallest and more 'human' I have seen of him so far). Then I asked at the reception where to go to check the awesome views and we were nicely greeted and told to take the elevators to floor 18. So we did and we both were amazed of the awesome views of the whole Santa Clara county that you get from there. I was thrilled with our new small yet big adventure. The lady who let us take some pics from a meeting room was super friendly and invited us to go to the 2nd floor (we should do another day) to get to know more about the history of San Jose through pictures. read more

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I do business here with the Development Department. They validate parking in their underground garage. If you are there to apply for a permit, go to the information desk on the ground floor and get a number. They also have free wifi and a good work area while you wait. read more

San Jose City Hall - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

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*******Steel beauty******** Grey is not her color but it becomes her! After my Mocha I was wired and we decided to cross the street to re-discover this beautiful architecture. It's almost always empty the way I remember this place from two summers ago. Today stands the same situation. I like the dome. It's a great place to walk around. You're not allowed to go all the way to the third floor of the dome but you can still enjoy the city views from the second floor. It's beauty is in the simplicty of the open design. Some observers say it's a waste of space. I say F*** off! It's beautiful the way it is. We reached the second floor and noticed a wall sprinkled with San Jose's history. A wall of who's who from the first mayor to the history of the city itself. We walked by a closed section of the dome on the second floor where the city council conducts their meetings. From this floor you can look down at the smattering of chairs scattered on the first floor and noticed a coffee cart in the corner as you walk in the dome. Nice touch! The Dome is well built. You won't hear the noise from the street at all. The design brings in a lot of sun from the glass roof. Emerging from the dome onto the busy street again I was reminded that I can find quite right in the middle of downtown San Jose in the Dome. ****This review is dedicated to Manabu who loves buildings****** read more

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I just wanted to take a moment to "Thank You" Dean, Dina,Mario Michele, Lindsay and Amber for the excellent service! You all were very helpful with all my needs! I didn't know what to expect but for sure I didn't expect these people to be so humble and courteous to myself and all that were in line! I guess you can say it was a truly very pleasant visit! These people know their Job and they truly know people!!! Dino went out of his way to assist me explaining all that I needed to complete my paperwork. I sure hope they stay around for a long time because they represent the City of San Jose perfectly and treat you like your staying at a five star Hotel! I just can't thank you enough for making my visit very pleasant and for helping me with my paperwork and with a genuine smile! Thank you to the City of San Jose for Hiring just right!!! Jim H. read more

The San Jose City Hall is a pretty enough space.. designed by Robert Meier, architect of the Getty Museum down South. The sort of non-functional glass dome structure in front was not in his original plan, but former Mayor Ron Gonzales threw a tantrum that the original plans did not have a building with a rotunda and a dome top.. ( you know, like the one in SF..) So Meier.. like a good businessman, listened to his customer, shrugged, increased his billable hours, and added a new dome structure to the design.. just not atop anything.. sort of sitting out there in front by itself..and built of glass.. like an art piece... and I guess a nice place to rent out for ceremonies and other functions.. sorta catchy and unique.. Though I doubt the addition of such an extravagant embellishment would be tolerated these days when stressed city budgets are resulting in neighborhood libraries and community centers are being closed down for alleged lack of funding.. back to that point later.. A less noted but important democratic feature of the design is the nice space in front for accomodating large crowds of people to gather, be that gathering in celebration or in protest...and on the night I was there, that space was being well-used for the purposes of protest.. From my point of view, there is not a cooler sight than pissed off mobilized crowds of angry citizens converging on the building to demand that the Mayor and some of his council cronies reconsider their intention to close youth centers and libraries in the *poorer* areas of the city because of alleged labor union expenses. So the unions and community activists get together, draw up an alternative budget, numbers all in order, with sacrifices and pension cuts a little more evenly spread around and demand consideration.. Some of the supportive council members come out of the council chamber and address the crowd.. Yea for them! Some remain inside.. Boo! ... we'll remember. Then into the chamber we march.. oops .. some of us never see the inside of the chamber because its 450 seat capacity is exceeded.. so we get shuffled off to overflow rooms with a monitor and audio hook up downstairs.. And then the citizen visitors spend the rest of the evening sending spokespeople to the mic and making their feelings known.. So SJCH ... 4 stars for striking appearance.. 2 stars for the extravagant, vanity-fueled additional expenses.. 5 stars for providing a space conducive to allowing democratic activities and processes play themselves out... and suspended judgment on being a building in which just and wise decisions are reached.. The issue is still under consideration. read more

San Jose City Hall - The space in front. Perfect for citizens who wish to gather and encourage correct decision making by the council. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

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Building is nice and all, but what it the point if you have employees that don't do anything and just talking with each other??? At the city for 2 hours to get a building permit and at the past 2 hours only to numbers called you look around and just see attached picture read more

San Jose City Hall - Lazy employees and wee pay there salary - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

The employees at City Hall really don't help at all. They will answer your question but they can't give you an overall idea of the process. For example, I asked, "So, the steps to getting a business license/business tax is to get a fictitious name then come back to pay the business tax?" Her answer, "I don't know but I do know that this is the last step" Well...Thanks for nothing, Lady. I then proceed to the general help desk where I would expect to get a general idea of what I need to do. Again...nothing...she just points me in another direction. Again...Thanks for nothing, Lady. read more

San Jose City Hall - Business tax windows - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

Ever since the new San Jose city hall opened a few years ago, I just find myself just coming here to check out all sorts of things from city council meetings in the very large auditorium with huge projection screens where any patron would know the agenda for the day instantly or what the council is debating over at the moment to the ample seating. I love the city hall's architecture and several times of the year, artwork is projected across the dome. In addition, mist sprays are turned on during hot days and if you take the elevator to the top floor, views of the San Jose east foothills or downtown can be seen from the top. Great views and just chilling outside is just as fun as well. The new city hall makes getting a business permit much easier and brochures, pamphlets, and all kinds of information is available at your fingertips on the lower/1st level. read more

San Jose City Hall - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

This is mostly from an architectural point of view. It's funny how much this complex stands out as the rest of the blocks around it are pretty run down. Light steel and glass for the majority, concrete as the base. It sits in the sun un blocked by any other high rises. For some reason I've only spent time in the court houses down the way for jury duty so other than admiration I've not gotten any actual government reasons to be in here! read more

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Got a bogus bill with a $120.00 administration fee. Tried to call number on bill. Call goes to voice mail. Called back and got 2 numbers to call: both numbers dead. Called back and put on permanent hold. RIDICULOUS! read more

Not everyday you get to see your tax dollars in action. Wanted to remove a tree that is growing up against the side of our garage. The only way to do that these days is with a tree removal permit. Went online and found the SJ Tree removal permit. The form is well documented but it is unbelievable that I need to return 6 pages of paper in PERSON. Seems like you should be able to mail or PDF email this stuff to them. The paper work needs a an arborist report, a map drawing of our lot, the Parcel number & Map (can't they go to the County for that?). Anyone ever see the movie Brazil? Parked at the beautiful new City Hall (they have an underground parking lot they validate for if you drive back behind the building). Dropped by the main floor and was impressed they had a nice large open lobby with a tickiet number systems like the DMV. Got my number and 45 minutes later I was talking with one of the city planners. They asked where we were going to plant the replacement tree and took the paperwork. Supposedly somebody will get back in a week via phone. Got my parking stub validated and paid my $114 tree removal permit request. I have no idea how out of town landlords would ever obtain one of these permits. read more

San Jose City Hall - Waiting for City Hall Customer Service - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

The most miserable place on earth. If you believe in hell this is what I would imagine it to be like. A bunch of idiots who drag their feet and take their precious time. You ask a question and you get sent to 15 different people, and still receive no answer in the end. No one seems to know what they are doing. You really get to see tax payer dollars at work and then you're even more upset. Who hires these idiots? If you need a permit it's gonna cost you an arm and leg. read more

I was recently in to renew my business Licence. I had gone back and forth with a tax Agilent that somehow left my 2018 in the file box, her excuse was she wasn't remembering things. She's forgotten so much. She didn't forget to bring up her son. I found that rare. But took it with a grain of salt. Nevertheless I was exempt per heart ship. I'm a Corona virus survivor I was in ICU for 2 months in Roseville Ca after a really bad experience. (I had all my business property stold by a con artist.. Everything I owned from storage was moved to a client apartment, I'd been set up.) Now Santa Clara County has given my Licence back and I've painted a Breast cancer awareness on canvas. The ribbon on top left hand corer signifies the Overcomer's of cancer.The ribbon behind the bonsai tree of wisdom, is the hard work and of all the medical staff that invest into the research from the very beginning for the research, and the infinity strokes, the mask foundation that states we will continue to work and research forever and ever until we are able to overcome cancer. read more

San Jose City Hall - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

I have been trying to get Someone to help me find out what the city of San Jose did with my vehicle that had a 72 hour notice to be towed.My vehicle with all of my belongings have just disappeared courtesy of the city of San Jose parks and recreations program # beautifysj I have desperately tried to reach out to all entities that could possibly be a part of what it seems like to me to be a conspiracy surrounding the disappearance of my vehicle.I used to love this city I was born and bred in but since this tragic incident I'm beginning to have distain for the city of San Jose.Its soon going to be Christmas and I have nothing and can't seem to get any response from anyone.Im quite disgusted at this point. read more

To this day I still don't understand why our city hall was rebuilt this way, but hey it's pretty cool! I remember driving by every day on my way to high school and seeing the building go up, but I finally entered it for the first time this year. I believe they hold meetings here sometimes, but I came by for a gala type event. The building was stunning and looking up and seeing the rain come down on the clear dome was really amazing. With a parking structure pretty much attached, it's a beautiful setting for an event if you can afford it (okay honestly I have no idea how much it would cost). read more

Bummer that they don't give guided tours anymore unless you're with a group, but you can do a self-guided one. Everyone was nice except the front desk. They seemed cranky (like DMV cranky) even when it wasn't a busy day. People smiled when I was walking around. Got a couple hi's and welcome to the cities from random people. I had a good time doing the tour. It is only meant for a hour but it can be longer depending how much detail you pay attention to. I like reading the descriptions next to the many historical photos and artwork. I even had lunch there too. I was given a little trouble for taking so long on my tour. Reception was reluctant to give me my parking validation.... read more

Is this a city hall or museum or contemporary architecture gallery ? I give this place 4 stars for the charging of public street parking infront of my overcrowded garage. You know that sun pass that still makes you drive around for 20 min to find a spot even close to your place. Anyways it's a pretty clean and efficient facility and staff is friendly which makes it way better than other city halls. read more

I have been coming here for years. I believe that almost everyone who works here really does try to help you resolve problems with building and planning permits. I had a really bad experience with someone who worked here a few years ago but he ended up retiring. So I am glad for that. They do need more staffing though. The people are way over worked and are just not able to give the service that they once had a few years back. Everyone who comes here seems to know that San Jose's building and planning departments are the most difficult for getting permits than any other city in the Bay Area. If you try to get permits, the city makes it really hard and the amount of time it takes for them to review your plans is really poor. Many of my neighbors have complained that it has taken years before getting permits. The added time to get permits has cost me thousands more because of the delays. read more

San Jose City Hall - This the counter where you pay for your permits. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

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If your life is going great - and you feel like you need to suffer a little bit - you know - just to give your life a little bit of negative - so you can appreciate the positive - go there. Your tax dollars at work. Bunch of tired people that do not have a clue what they are doing. Make you wait in line for hours - just to tell you "you are standing in the wrong line". If this was a private company - I would be in and out of there in 10 minutes. Especially after dropping 15k in permit fees. Last project that I'm doing with permits. This place is the reason people break the law and build without permits. read more

Pretty nice, as far as government buildings are concerned. The only complaint? Parking underneath can be confusing! Depending on who/why you're visiting depends on which color section you park and which elevator you take upstairs. Hopefully you know if you're supposed to be in the orange or green section. Once you're upstairs? Clean bathrooms, friendly employees and lots of light! No, I wasn't here to go to court (although that would be funny!), was part of a Small Business Saturday proclamation. read more

As a past employee at the Event Services office, where people come to book events at the Rotunda and other rooms, I feel obligated to give a disclaimer to those interested in using our facility. Due to the fact that we are operated by the City of San Jose, we try our best to accommodate clients. However, we don't have rules that we can bend, we have City Policies which must be upheld by law. For example, our facility has a strict curfew of 10:00 pm with one hour to have everyone exit the building. If we could host later events, we would, but the City does not allow us to. Also, due to access restrictions, we cannot update our website directly. We have been in the process of updating our website for the past several months, but must go through the Webmaster for the City. Some information may be incorrect depending on the type of event you are having, so we encourage you to call our office directly if you are interested in hosting an event at City hall. We are also in the process of trying to create a separate website for Weddings in order to give brides a more accessible, and less stressful, experience. read more

I got the opportunity to visit the deluxe San Jose City Hall for my awesome friend's wedding and I was quite impressed. The glass dome ceiling was so pretty and looked even better at night. I didn't realize you could hold receptions there but now I do. His wedding reception was gorgeous on top of beautiful. It was truly eye candy all around. I definitely recommend this locale for wedding scouts. Word of advice: the elevator is located across the walkway. Spare your high heels and avoid the stairways. read more

The Rotunda at San Jose City Hall is a beautiful venue for a wedding reception, banquet or other event. Plenty of natural light and very elegant. The Event Services staff, especially Jennifer, was extremely helpful and made the entire process much more enjoyable. The venue itself is great for photos as well! Pros: 1. Great helpful event services staff 2. Plenty of natural light (being a glass dome) 3. Plenty of Parking underground and in the parking garage across the street 4. Mezzanine level that can be used in addition to the main floor 5. The building itself is great for photos outside and inside 6. Fits a good 250 people with a decent dance floor (about 300 w/out dance floor) Cons: 1. The City Hall as a list of pre-approved caterers. It takes a great deal of time and effort to get a caterer that is not pre-approved to actually get approved due to the insurance and other criteria they need to adhere to 2. As there is plenty of light, you really have to wait till the evening time to use a projector 3. Pantry is very small and has no cooking area - If your caterer needs to cook onsite, then you need to rent space outside including tents 4. Rental rate is by hour and your event needs to end at 10PM and everything out by 11PM 5. Since they removed the potted plants (due to budget cuts) the venue is very bland in color and therefore pretty sterile. You'll have to add plenty of decorations/color yourself read more

You all need to tell the construction workers working on the corner of Montague & First St they need to hold up a stop/slow sign because they are going to cause a serious accident. Don't use hand gestures or yelling at cars to slow down/ speed up. That is causing confusion. read more

Building a house right now, and so have needed to visit here a few times over the past nine months to file permit applications and ask questions of planning and public works staff. Parking is easy. The trick is to remember to ask for parking validation at the customer service counter. It'd be nice if you could validate your own parking, or at least staff asked you if you needed your parking validated when you check-in. Check-in process is easy. One way it would be easier is to have staff positioned outside the elevator to field the inevitable "Where do I??... and "How do I??" questions most everyone has when they walk out of the elevator. Get staff from behind the counter - greeting people and answering questions as they enter. Recent introduced a self-service kiosk to check-in. It's placement is all wrong for people to use it - it's at the front of the check-in line. It's the people at the back of the line this would appeal to, not the people at the front. It's a good concept, but you also need staff to explain what it is and get people started. Counter staff is knowledgeable and helpful. Payment of fees is easy. I appreciate that credit card are accepted, but why not American Express? Get over the higher percentage costs associated with AE transactions, and give your customers an AE option - it's what we all want. read more

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! When my husband and I were looking for places to have our wedding reception the City Hall Rotunda caught our eye and we never turned back. The dome is just breathtaking. We loved how the whole room was filled with light and how our guests would be able to dance the night away while the sun set. Many of our guests in the Los Altos/Palo Alto/Mountain View regions had never seen it before. When they were told that the reception would be at the San Jose City Hall, many of them went "really? maybe they decided to go with the budget route..." Imagine their awe and shock when they stepped into this beautiful building! We loved how you could dress it up or leave it alone. It's so beautiful on its own! Our events manager there Jennifer was also so, so sweet and very easy to work with. She managed to answer my every question-I probably had about a hundred and made sure not to bother me with anything on the day of! A+ for her! We loved how we had such a unique location. If you are looking for a unique place to hold an event, I would most definitely recommend the City Hall Rotunda! read more

San Jose City Hall - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

Horrible, Horrible, Horrible! True city workers. Came 10 mins before they open. Kiosks doesn't work. Had to wait in line for additional 30 mins before they started passing out numbers. I was 5th person in line to get a ticket and first in line for submitting new plans. All other numbers are called except mine. They even skipped my number and they said that I was next in line. Long story short, I was there for 5 hours and 30 mins. read more

I really love San Jose city hall. The building is gorgeous and it has those water spraying tower things that spray a mist during hot days. I've been inside once to pay for a parking permit and the experience was a breeze. Having such a good looking city hall makes me proud to be a resident of SJ. It may not look as good as SF city hall but I am pretty happy with it. read more

I have a love hate relationship with many city landmarks, this is no exception. From an exterior architectural viewpoint, the new City Hall is a bit of a drag. I feel that the space could have been utilized a lot better. There feels like an exorbitant amount of dead space. While this opens up the area for free-thinking and strolling, it's extremely lifeless. It's basically a concrete landscape with an artificial water metaphor and extremely restricted trees. It would be great if there were more greenery or at least some kind of lawn. From a usability standpoint this place is a lot better than the old City Hall. I can typically find my way around quite easily. I never have to wait in extremely long lines anymore. The people there are fairly helpful as well. I do find that the signage and hierarchy of the departments could be highly improved. My first time there I felt like a fish out of water. I've been to an event in the Rotunda. It's a great revenue that elevates whatever event is being showcased. read more

Absolutely beautiful venue for a wedding and reception. It's really impressive as you walk up towards it and the sunlight hits the dome just right. My friends had their Hindu wedding ceremony in a side hall, but I liked the fact that they were able to personalize it by using red and orange colored LED lights for mood lighting. The cocktails and dinner reception were held in the Rotunda itself. We were blessed with a beautiful autumn afternoon, so even though the temperature was "only" in the 70s, the sun was out and there was a nice breeze. I liked how the door/windows on the second level swiveled open to the patio area, creating a beautiful and airy indoor/outdoor space. It was a bit narrow, but somehow over 200 wedding guests were able to navigate the area to the bar and then appetizer spread. Downstairs in the main area they had set up the dance floor, the wedding party's table, and the rest of the tables for the guests. The space was large but the acoustics were great. I would definitely recommend this as an event space, especially because I hear that you get to bring in your own vendors and save a lot of money that way. read more

San Jose City Hall - The Rotunda from outside. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Jose, California

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Came to City Hall for a work-related fundraiser event. My reaction: WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW... wow. This place is nice. And I mean NOOIIIICCCEE! It's surely pleasure for the human eye. Right when you walk in, first thing that probably catches your attention is the enormity of the place. It's mos def perfect for fundraisers, wedding receptions, etc., etc. I mean, HOW COULD IT NOT BE?! Oh oh oh aaaaand... there's a 2nd floor. AWWWW YEEEAAA. The stairs up to the 2nd floor were so high that I was outta breath when I got to the top. And from the 2nd floor it's INCREDIBLY BETTER! You can look down to the ground floor or out the window for views towards Santa Clara St. I really wish I had my camera. UGH. I thought parking was going to be difficult (since it was a Friday night). But I found a spot somewhere nearby on 7th st. (Just drive around if you prefer not to pay for parking). It'll save you a buck or two! Whether I'm driving or walking, I love passing by this place. I would seriously suggest checking it out. City Hall, WHO KNEW?! read more

Horrible customer service they will treat you like you are absolutely stupid then blame you for not reading dozens of songs while everybody is sitting on their behind doing nothing horrible service fire everyone in there at the front desk and get eager people willing to work and serve this beautiful country called America read more