This is a really nice building, as is often the case with seasoned architectural structures in Chicago. And this is a Holabird & Roache-designed building so of course it's lovely. This one is interesting because the city hall and county building are combined into one--I'm not sure if that's common. The west side of the building holds the city offices, whilst the east side houses the county spaces. The alderpersons' downtown offices are in the city side, along with the mayor's offices, and the city council chambers. It's a well-kept building, well secured, and in easy proximity to some train lines or a walk from other Loop buildings if you're able. The building is also part of the Chicago Pedway system, which I would easily get lost in so I stay aboveground. read more

We transferred a city sticker. We had all of the required documents and the old sticker with us. The staff is rude and inefficient. The city's residents deserve better from the government they fund. read more

City hall, you probably have to go here eventually if you live in Chicago. Easily spotted by the massive Corinthian columns in front. Dont get lost though. The County and Buildings and located in this building. I got mixed up and went to the top of the county side and almost missed my appointment. The county side is on the Clark st side (East half) of the building, and the City side is on the Lasalle. I don't know the exact style of the building but it has gorgeous long hallways with vaulted ceiling, lots of marble and terrazzo and many art deco and guilded age elements to it. It's very central and close to all the lines. There's a pedway entrance too which is great for the winter. It's a public building so it's great to just stroll around or through. read more

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City halls are something that I usually enjoy exploring when visiting a new city. We stopped by the Chicago city hall and it gave a more classical feel compared to the other more modern-looking buildings in the city. This building was built in the mid-1800s and served as the government center for Chicago from then until the present, minus some years because of the Great Chicago Fire. There are 10 stories in this building and house a variety of city services, from vital records to marriage licenses to death certificates. There were also the department of finance as well as the department of aging. The office of the mayor of Chicago is also in this building though we didn't get to explore much else other than the main floor. As we concluded our exploration we went down a flight of stairs that continued through an underground pedestrian walkway that ultimately led us across the street to the other side and was a nice little adventure. read more

City Hall - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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My first hearing was mid-May 2024 a couple of weeks after I was discharged from a nursing home post surgery & within four months (pls see attached picture), after spending over $50,000 to repair., Judge Debra Seaton ordered my under-rehab house to be demolished. After a 30plus stay as I was getting & paying for a structual engineer's report which had been requested, Judge Seaton cancelled the stay of demolition & to my surprise, city of Chgo. sent a demolition truck. I happened to be there & ordered them from my property. A week or so later, I got there & saw a demolition truck in the driveway. I looked in the back & saw my whole house had been completely demolished. Could this happen to you within 4 1/2 months? Under Judge Seaton, in my opinion, Yes, & to think she is on next week's ballot while I, as a senior widowed female, is without a small, rehapped house to look forward to living in the rest of my life thx to her & recently appointed by the mayor, Commissioner Hopkins. read more

City Hall - Pic of a land mover truck - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Some of the fanciest hallways I've ever seen! Cook County taxpayers, you're paying for such luxury! They have these fancy elevator doors with the seal of the City of Chicago or the County of Cook, or the State of Illinois. Here, you can hand over your hard earned money to the local government, so they can have such nice things, such as these gilded elevators and marble floors. The building was pretty spotless and well let, well patrolled when I went. Fixtures were shiny and clean. This is a really nice building, excessively so. The tall ceilings and murals, the decorations just go on and on, a reminder to the excessive corrupt spending. So when you have to come in here and fork over your cash to the Man for a parking sticker, or a permit to do something to your own land, that you also have to pay taxes on- remember that when you see just how nice this palace is. read more

I was led inside City Hall this morning by my need to renew my Chicago parking sticker, and it is so, so pretty inside. STRUCTURE/CLEANLINESS: For a government building, there is some glorious architecture within these walls: High ceilings, detailed decorating on the elevators, and just an overall feeling of grandness. Even though the building is old, it looks clean, yet rich with history. STAFF: I was looking for the Clerk's Office, and found a guard sitting near what looked like a little operations room. I stuttered when asking where the Clerk's Office was (because I'm a mess!!!), and he was VERY kind and gave detailed directions as to where I needed to go. I was half-expecting him to either ignore me or give a vague answer, so THANK YOU, SIR! My experience in the Clerk's office was also quite a bit smoother and way less stressful than I'd expected, seeing as this is such a big building with a high volume of visitors daily. I will say that if you're not great at directions, you might get lost in here. I certainly did after exiting the Clerk's office... but once I found my way, I high-fived the guard who had helped me earlier and was out of this building within probably 12 minutes. Quick and painless! read more

Today (October 17, 2019: Times: 9am-2pm) I attended a Free Walk-In-First Come-First Serve Flu Shot Clinic open to the residents of Chicago at the City of Chicago's Department of Public Health on the Second Floor of City Hall in the Department's Lobby. THE NEXT FREE FLU SHOT CLINIC HERE IS: December 3, 2019 9:00 AM-2:00 PM FYI: While there are signs around the City of Chicago providing information about this free clinic-I want to thank the web site: CHICAGO ON THE CHEAP for this information. chicagoonthecheap.com/fr... My overall experience at City Hall had much to be desired by the "information desk" officer who I asked for directions to the Chicago Department of Public Health. The female officer was "snappy" and said that she was on the "Cook County" "side of the building and that the City of Chicago was on the "opposite side of the building." Yet there was only one information desk and "she was in charge of it!" I did not know that City Hall encompassed the County Side vs. The City of Chicago side. The female officer was also unaware of the Flu Shot Clinic Open to the PUBLIC. Furthermore, I also witnessed the female officer "interact" with another individual who was asking about the location of the Probate Department regarding a matter concerning the will of a deceased family member. The same City Hall officer also continued with the same troublesome demeanor and did not appear to "know" where to direct the individual. Odd that a City Employee does not seem to "know" what offerings are in the "building" that employs her. 5 STARS FOR THE CHICAGO CITY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH- See my review: https://www.yelp.com/biz/chicago-department-of-public-health-chicago-6?hrid=6GEEOSJGnhujILUeI9OOFg I DID ENJOY THE BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH PINK LIGHTS IN THE HISTORICAL LANTERNS. read more

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Went in here the other day for the first time ever. Got to say it's such a cool and beautiful building! I would love to go on a tour to see the rest because it's such an important Chicago landmark and has so much history read more

The building is great, very oldskool. Very "Untouchables". And you can get married here, simply (in my case, secretly) and with no fuss. I did, wayyyy back on January 2, 2002. Five years later it flopped, but I still spent one of the happiest hours of my life here that year. In 2008, I returned with the No War On Iran Coalition, for Alderman Joe Moore's No War On Iran resolution, with Scott Ritter , John Mearsheimer, Douglass Cassel, Stephen Kinzer, Norma Claire Moruzzi and Farrah Hassen as witnesses and speakers. What a cool experience that was, and I learned a lot attending the City Council hearings that day. Today, I love that City Hall is bringing the Olympics to Chicago and making the city ever more unfriendly to cars with the new parking restrictions. More walking, more biking! read more

This City Hall actually looks like a prototypical city hall. It is a hulking mass by the architecture firm Holabird and Roche that occupies a city block. Large neoclassical columns provide the illusion of power and stability. City Hall actually occupies the west half of the block, sharing time and space with the County Building on the east side facing Daley Plaza. City Hall connects with the labyrinthine underground pedway system. read more

City Hall - City Hall - County Building - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Gorgeous interior. Lots of detail and access to the pedway. Security is generally pretty good about giving directions to what is where in the building. The downfalls are the limited hours and long, long lines. read more

I give it 3 stars because the customer service I've had here isn't too bad..However, I wouldn't recommend you coming during the first couple weeks of the month because the lines are just sooo long.... If anything at all.. try to order everything online....but I've also seem ppl come in because the online transactions didn't go through.. so i'm not sure...eh.. read more

You are reviewing City hall? Yes. Yes I am. I'll preface this by saying that we did not go to Cook county city hall for actual services. We only went because both my fiance and I are Blues Brothers fas and we felt you can't go to Chicago and not see the location of the scene(s) where the Jake and Elroy are running from pretty much the entire city of Chicago's law enforcement. We walked through the Honorable Richard J. Daley Plaza and 'saw where they got that Picasso' and walked right into Cook County City Hall. I was surprised there were no metal detectors, there were signs requesting no guns though, that's right folks, just please no weapons. Maybe they have metal detectors upstairs? It was really awesome to be able to walk around. We did not go up to the office of the assessor. It was about lunch time though, so he'd probably be back in five minutes. We did ask a police officer if there was any sign or plaque dedicated to the Blues Brothers, the officer we asked kind of gave us a blank stare before the supervising? officer came over to talk to us. Very nice lady. She told us unfortunately, there was no sign (well that's disappointing) but she was able to share some tidbits about how they went about making the movie, and where filming took place. Some facts we knew, some facts were new, but we enjoyed our visit. Even if you aren't a Blues Brother fan, the interior is gorgeous and the architecture is beautiful, and everyone was super nice and polite to us. We were worried and concerned the entire time we were there that we were going to get kicked out or yelled at for taking pictures, but instead most of the staff was more than willing to give us information. Maybe they should start giving Blues brothers or Al Capone tours. read more

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Dear Phyllis, Thank you for restoring my faith in the City of Chicago, City Hall and mankind. You're a class act, and made even the most painful part of owning a car in Chicago (a city sticker), almost...enjoyable. If you run for Mayor, I'll vote for you. Merry Christmas! Colleen *I very much dreaded this task, and thus had put it off for far too long. Honestly, I strolled into this big, old, huge building...did my business, talked to Phyllis, and was in/out in 10 minutes. **Extra bonus for caroling children in the lobby + large evergreen tree splashed with lights. Very festive. **Never do your city sticker stuff at a Currency Exchange. Just trust me. read more

Great for the small business workshops however needs a strong update to keep the local government agencies modern. read more

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The monumental Classical Revival style City Hall-County Building takes up an entire City block. The west side holds the office of the mayor, city clerk, city treasurer, some city departments, aldermen, and the Chicago City Council. The east side is the Cook County Building where legal documents are recorded and stored. At dusk, the foyer and great hall are illuminated by a beautiful emerald light; reminding me of Daisy Buchanan's dock. For Jay Gatsby's eye, it served as a guiding light to lofty goals, whilst representing a treasured past. For some Chicagoans, peering inward, the glow signifies the ambitious goals of our government and the extraordinary past. Thursday, I had a bizarre encounter with. . . Big Rich outside City Hall. I was at the entrance leaving and a luxury town car pulled up and I saw a huge, tough guy in the passenger front seat. He jumped out to open the door and I looked to see who was getting out. And it was HIM. He started toward the entrance, then stopped in his tracks and stared at me. I stared back, we stood that way for like 10 seconds, then did the awkward "Hi" exchange. I walked away, then looked back and he was gazing after me. I wasn't sure it was him, he was kinda shorter than I thought, and seemed flustered, but maybe he expected me to say something meaningful or flattering. I'm friends with one of his staff and he confirmed he arrived at that time for a meeting. (And that he is arguably short, ha) Weird! read more

I came in this morning to get my vehicle registered with the city and receive a residential parking zone sticker. I was dreading coming here but the visit was surprisingly smooth. The vehicle registration office is the first door on the right when you walk in. When I arrived at 8:40 am there was no line for vehicle registration. The woman who helped me, I believe her name was Yvonne, was very friendly. You just need to present your lease, drivers license, and vehicle registration and they issue you the stickers on the spot. I believe the two options were 9 months or 21 months. Also for those with out of state plates and out of state drivers license, ignore all the people online who say the city will make you switch your plates to Illinois plates or don't want out of state drivers licenses- they don't care! Though I think it's pretty pricy, about $85 for my car registration and residential zone sticker for 9 months, I'm very happy how smooth the process was. The employee said it does get crazy there at the beginning and end of the month so take note to avoid it then. read more

I walked in to the Cook County Tax Assessor's Office and asked if they had seen Jake or Elwood Blues because I had their $5,000. They said "Security!!" J/K. This place is just really nice and historical. I love the hallways in here. I'm sure there are secret tunnels in here that lead to cool stuff. read more

The man at the Starbucks was helpful; the other employees on the other hand- not so much. I came in to get a copy of my birth certificate and anticipated long lines, but that was the least of my worries. I only had to wait 5 minutes (granted, it was a Monday afternoon). This wait was mainly due to the fact that I had to get out of line to find an ATM because the sign "We only accept cash" happens to appear when you're almost at the front desk. To keep a gross story short: I only wanted a copy of my birth certificate, not to hear vulgar comments about my 'beauty' from the "gentleman" assisting me. read more

I came here to become a city employee (or volunteer at Chicago animal shelter), so didn't know what to expect in terms of lines, etc. I had to get fingerprinted and then turn in my job application in order to get a temporary batch. I was very pleasantly surprised at the courtesy and the wait times in order to get this done. Things were smooth, organized and in an orderly fashion. The whole thing too about 20 minutes. Beautiful building and efficient service - what else do you need? read more

There's not much the public can see here unless you actually need to use a public service like paying a bill or get a license for something. Otherwise, it's a big hulking building with a circulation pattern designed for a much different era. There's not even an information desk or window you can visit. Yes, parts of the building are pretty, but most of it is forgettable and typical of civic buildings. They've also removed a couple of attended tourist information booths that were here a few years ago. read more

Came here to get my birth certificate and apply for a passport. I went close to noon and no lines to get a birth certificate. Lady was nice and prompt. Went to apply for my passport and the lady seemed to want to just get back to reading her gossip magazine. Had to get a money order and come back to finish the transaction. I gave her my birth certificate and she was like it's a copy. Well, if I had the original, I wouldn't need to go get a copy. I told her I just got it. She made it seem like she wasn't sure if it'll work for the passport. Overall, wasn't a bad experience. read more

The city of Chicago has seized and sold almost 50,000 cars over the past seven years due to unpaid tickets, a practice that has disproportionately affected the city's poor and minority residents, according to a new investigation. Often, the sales originated with a single ticket the car's owner was unable to pay in a matter of days, leading to a mountain of additional fines that proved insurmountable. The tow-and-sell operation has generated millions for the city and its parking enforcement contractors. Car owners, however, received none of the proceeds and in many cases were left with thousands of dollars in ticket debt. The scale of Chicago's car seizures was revealed Monday in a comprehensive analysis of towing records by WBEZ, Chicago's NPR affiliate. Since 2011, the city's parking and vehicle use enforcement system has impounded and ultimately sold off 49,151 cars, according to the WBEZ report. In 2017 alone, Chicago booted about 67,000 vehicles for unpaid tickets, which include parking violations and failure to purchase or renew "city stickers," the city's road tax program. About a third of those cars were towed to an impound lot because the owner couldn't pay $100 within 24 hours to remove the boot. Ultimately, about 8,000 were sold to private contractors, often for just a fraction of the car's value. In Chicago, the road to losing a car often begins with a missing or expired city sticker, which is required for all cars registered in the city limits. The vehicle sticker program is intended to raise revenue for street maintenance and other road-use needs. For most cars, the city sticker costs about $87 per year. But the fine for not having a sticker is much higher: Today, it stands at $200 after the city council unanimously approved a 67 percent increase in 2012. With late payment penalties and collections fees, a city sticker fine can quickly balloon to hundreds or even thousands of dollars, well beyond what low-income residents can afford to pay. That has led to a massive pile of debt owed by Chicago drivers -- $275 million just for sticker tickets issued since 2012, according to an investigation by ProPublica Illinois. The city aggressively enforces the city sticker requirement, especially in neighborhoods where residents are less likely to buy stickers or have the money to pay fines for having cars without them. According to the ProPublica report, the city's black neighborhoods are hardest hit -- the 10 community areas with the highest rate of sticker ticketing are all at least 80 percent black. As a consequence, many majority black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Chicago are among those that have a high number of cars seized and sold over ticket debt. In 2017, a majority of the cars sold off because of scofflaw-related ticket debt came from a handful of zip codes on the South and West Sides, according to WBEZ. Chicago lawmakers have initiated some reforms to make it easier for low-income residents to afford city stickers or to pay fines if they are ticketed. Later this year, motorists will be able to pay for their stickers in four-month installments, a move aimed at encouraging more owners to purchase them in the first place. The city is also weighing proposals to make impound and parking-related fees contingent on a resident's ability to pay. read more

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I came here to get a street performers permit. Aside from the ridiculously long wait times for every step of the process, I was surprised to find that EVERY employee that I dealt with was most pleasant! My past experiences with any public service agencies lead me to expect the worst. Not so! Even the cashier clerk seemed delighted to help me. They should give a customer service lesson to the employees at the DMV and the auto pound. I would be much happier to give hundreds of dollars to the city of chicago to get my car back if the person working at the desk wasn't acting like my presence there was a fate worse than death. Anyway, the building is beautiful and it's fun to just visit. I left feeling warm and fuzzy, and you can too! read more

Terrible place to go to for city stickers. there's ways one or two people working and a line of 30+ people. ridiculous. i've been in line for 20 mins now. absurd and no unnecessary when they have 10+ booths. read more

I had to come here during covid and I appreciate their efforts to maintain social distancing. There is only one entrance currently open which is on clark. They temp check and ask if you have been exposed or are experiencing symptoms. I had to go submit my marriage license and went around lunch time which I didn't know they closed down for 30 minutes to sanitizer. A little frustrating but also very much appreciated. The only critique is that people started to then bunch up outside the doors in an unorganized manner which made entering the office a poop show once the doors opened. The gentleman that helped me was so nice. He has been there for over 20 years, has a bunch of grandchildren and said he loves his job. I love hearing this! read more

I am in the process of starting a small business in Chicago (a child care center) and to do this is a VERY challenging undertaking, due to all the permits and approvals, etc...which I expected. However, that being said, the staff at City Hall have been nothing but helpful and patient with me and all my questions. And they always have an answer, which is nice, they dont just turn me over to someone else. In particular I've worked with Alex regarding the status of my Public Way Use permit. I've called about 4-5 times and each time he is always helpful and courteous. Im not saying that I expected anything less but let's face it, City/State/Federal workers sometimes get a bum rap, but the staff at City Hall in Chicago prove this stereotype wrong. The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5...the process to get permits, licenses, etc is a bit convoluted and time consuming, to say the least. Improving efficiencies in this respect could save consumers (and the city) a lot of time and, as we all know, time is money! read more

As a male to female crossdresser I have had a delightful time going to City Hall. The police get over their phobia quickly. The staff yields to thoughtfulness and courtesy. It's thrilling to show myself off there. Le government n'est pas si mal a Chicago. Con una ciudad tan grande que Chicago, yo va hacer fantastico read more

Needed some forms that the city requires for apartment leasing. Called ahead and was told I could pick them up at City Hall. When I got there I was directed to 5 maybe 6 differnt rooms on 4 different floors. One clerk told me I could get the forms at Office Depot , NOT. I have been in third world country offices more organized and knowledgeable . Finally walked into an office on the tenth floor so frustrated I was ready to cry. LIZ C helped me. She found a web site that had the forms and even printed the most important one out for me. 5 STARS fkr Liz. read more