Pawnee City Hall was never in Indiana. It was here, about half a mile east along Colorado Boulevard, dressed up in tight camera angles and passed off to viewers as the seat of a small Midwestern government for seven seasons.
When Jennifer Keishin Armstrong comes to Vroman’s Bookstore on Tuesday, June 2, to discuss her new book about Parks and Recreation, she’ll be doing it within walking distance of the Spanish Colonial facade that Leslie Knope reported to every morning — at least on screen. Armstrong has written a comprehensive history of the show, Parks and Rec: The Underdog TV Show That Lit’rally Inspired a Vision for a Better America, and she noted in her own words that the Vroman’s stop is “just a few blocks from ‘Pawnee City Hall.'”
Joining her in conversation is Alison Becker, who played Pawnee newspaper reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep in all seven seasons of the NBC series. The talk begins at 7:00 p.m. and is free; a purchase of the book is appreciated, according to Vroman’s.
Pasadena City Hall, at 100 North Garfield Avenue served as the exterior stand-in for the fictional Indiana government building throughout the show’s run from 2009 to 2015. Producers typically showed only a portion of the structure — the full building, with its six-story dome and cupola rising 206 feet above the surrounding neighborhood, is, as one observer noted, “far too grandiose” to represent a small-town city hall.
Armstrong’s book, published by Dutton in April 2026, draws on new and exclusive interviews with Parks and Rec creators Michael Schur and Greg Daniels, and with cast members including Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, who wrote the book’s introduction. The account traces the show from a struggling first season — when critics still compared it unfavorably to The Office — through its transformation into what the publisher describes as “a cultural force despite middling ratings,” one that Americans returned to in large numbers during politically turbulent years.
Armstrong is a New York Times bestselling author whose previous books include Seinfeldia and When Women Invented Television. She worked at Entertainment Weekly for a decade before turning to books and is a co-founder of the “Ministry of Pop Culture” Substack. Becker, a writer, comedian, director, and producer in addition to her work as an actress, appeared as Shauna Malwae-Tweep — the tenacious Pawnee Journal reporter — across 14 episodes of the series, making her its longest-running recurring guest star.
Vroman’s Bookstore, founded in 1894, is the oldest and largest independent bookstore in Southern California. The event is at 695 East Colorado Boulevard. For information, call 626-449-5320 or visit vromansbookstore.com.
The show was set in Indiana. The building that played its city hall has been in Pasadena for nearly a century.
