Washington Square

In addition to being a desirable residential community, Washington Square West is considered a hip, trendy neighborhood that offers a diverse array of shops, restaurants, and coffee houses. It contains many gay-friendly establishments and hosts annual events celebrating LGBT culture in Philadelphia including OutFest. The area takes its name from Washington Square, a historic urban park in the northeastern corner of the neighborhood.

Philadelphia's Antique Row lies in the area as does the nation's oldest hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital. Educational and medical facilities associated with Thomas Jefferson University, a leading regional medical university, and health care center, are located within the neighborhood. The one-time headquarters of the former Curtis Publishing Company and the University of the Arts lie at the edges of the neighborhood.

Washington West's real estate is mixed commercial, residential, and service industries, characterized by two, three, and four-story rowhouses interspersed with condominiums, mid-rise apartments, hospitals, and offices with ground-floor retail. The neighborhood follows William Penn's original grid layout for the city, with many one-lane and pedestrian side streets added later as the population became denser. In addition to the block-sized Washington Square Park to the East, the neighborhood contains the smaller Kahn Park, named after the Philadelphia architect Louis Kahn.

1. Washington Square Park
2. Walnut Street Theater
3. Talula's Garden

The neighborhood roughly corresponds to the area between 7th and Broad Streets and between Chestnut and South Streets.