Leslie Knope and her co-workers at Pawnee City Hall from Parks and Recreation may live in Indiana on the show. However, in reality, the show was filmed in Southern California. The beautiful building that was used as Pawnee City Hall, is in fact, a working City Hall. You can visit this filming location in Pasadena, California.
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How can you visit this filming location? The Pasadena City Hall is located at 100 Garfield Avenue. You can find free and/or inexpensive street parking nearby. It is a great spot to come in take pictures. If you would like to visit the Pasadena City Hall a fun way to do so is to go to one of the Eat See Hear movie screenings this summer. A few of the movies will take place in the courtyard in front of the building.
Pasadena is one of my favorite cities to explore because the city is full of beautiful buildings. I can see why various places in this city are popular among filmmakers. Did you know that this location has been used for more than the Pawnee City Hall from Parks and Recreation? It has also been used in The Big Bang Theory, the top of the dome is visible from Leonard & Sheldon’s apartment. You can also see city hall in the Mission Impossible tv show with Martin Landau, the movie A Walk in the Clouds and the Oscar-nominated movie The Great Dictator. Of course, there are more tv shows and movies that have filmed here but it would take too long to list them all.
If you watched the Bachelor when Juan Pablo was on it you might remember his romantic dinner date in front of the Pasadena City Hall. You can find out more about other date locations from the Bachelor in LA.
What else is there to see besides the Pasadena City Hall?
The Pasadena Playhouse is a fun place to go to see a great show. Earlier this year Al Pacino did a show at the Playhouse. Several shows throughout the year feature familiar faces. Recently, I saw Nia Vardalos from My Big Fat Greek Wedding in the play Tiny Beautiful Things. 
The Rose Bowl is my favorite football stadium in Southern California and it just so happens to be the home stadium of my favorite team the UCLA Bruins!
By far one of the best events to see in Pasadena is the annual Rose parade which takes place every New Year’s Day.
