West End (Washington, D.C.)

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West End
Neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Top: M Street (left) and New Hampshire Avenue (right); bottom: Columbia Hospital for Women (left) and The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C. (right)
Map of Washington, D.C., with West End highlighted in red
Coordinates: 38°54′25″N 77°02′59″W / 38.907056°N 77.049694°W / 38.907056; -77.049694
Country	United States
District	Washington, D.C.
Quadrant	Northwest
Ward	2
Government
• Councilmember	Brooke Pinto

The West End is a neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., bounded by K Street NW to the south, Rock Creek Park to the west and north, and New Hampshire Avenue NW and 23rd Street NW to the east. The West End is so named because it was the westernmost part of the original L'Enfant Plan for the city of Washington, before the annexation of Georgetown. It is home to the embassies of Spain and Qatar as well as the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. The George Washington University and George Washington University Hospital are on the edge of the West End, at Washington Circle.

The West End is home to numerous luxury hotels, upscale condominiums, and fine dining restaurants. The neighborhood exists due in large part to a 1972 urban renewal plan prepared by the city's Office of Planning and Management, designed "to bring life to a declining part of the city." Titled "New Town for the West End," the aerial photograph on the cover of the study showed the area that was planned to become a "new intown community."

The neighborhood is adjacent to Georgetown, Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle, and the city's Traditional Downtown. Today, DC Planning Office considers the West End part of a more broadly-defined Downtown.^[1]