Washington, D.C., was a
planned city, and many of the city's
street grids were developed in that initial plan. In 1791, President
George Washington commissioned
Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a French-born military engineer and artist, to design the new capital. He enlisted the help of Isaac Roberdeau,
Étienne Sulpice Hallet and Scottish surveyor
Alexander Ralston to help lay out the city plan. The
L'Enfant Plan featured broad streets and avenues radiating out from rectangles, providing room for open space and landscaping.