There actually seem to be quite a bit of disagreement among sources on the exact boundaries of the above neighborhoods.
The short descriptions below follow Wikipedia but I also included links to the LA Times Mapping LA posts as they have a lot of input from people who actually live in these communities.
Comments welcome!
Sawtelle
A 1.82-square-mile (4.7 km2) district within the city of Los Angeles, was at one time an independent municipality, which was consolidated with Los Angeles in 1922. The consolidated area is bounded by Sepulveda Blvd on the east, Pico Blvd on the south, the Santa Monica city line on the west and Wilshire Blvd or unincorporated Los Angeles County on the north. It includes portions of zip codes: 90049, 90064, 90025 and all of zipcode 90073.
Within this district lies a Japanese American community along Sawtelle Blvd, between Santa Monica and Olympic.
More on Sawtelle from Wikipedia
Sawtelle’s Profile, Demographics, Geo (incl. a Map), and Schools from LA Times Mapping LA Project
Westwood
Westwood Village (also known as Westwood) is a district in western Los Angeles. It is best known as the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The eastern portions of the district are often thought of as a distinctly different neighborhood, Holmby Hills. Westwood was carved from the old Wolfskill Farm, a 3,000-acre (12 km2) tract that was purchased in 1919 by wealthy retailer Arthur Letts. Letts’s son-in-law, Harold Janss, was vice president of Janss Investment Company, which developed the area and started advertising new homes in 1922.
Located in the northern central portion of Los Angeles’s Westside, Westwood is bordered by Brentwood on the west, Bel-Air on the north, Century City and Beverly Hills on the east, West Los Angeles on the southwest, Rancho Park on the southeast, and Sawtelle on the south and southwest. The district’s boundaries are generally considered to be Olympic Blvd on the southeast, the city limits of Beverly Hills on the northeast, and Sunset Blvd on the north; its southwestern boundary is the San Diego Freeway between Olympic and Wilshire, and Veteran Ave between Wilshire and Sunset. It is 90024 zip code.
More on Westwood from Wikipedia
Westwood’s Profile, Demographics, Geo (incl. a Map), and Schools from LA Times Mapping LA Project
Century City
A 176-acre (712,000-m2) commercial and residential district on the Westside Los Angeles, bounded by Westwood on the west, Rancho Park on the southwest, Cheviot Hills and Beverlywood on the southeast, and the city of Beverly Hills on the northeast. Its major thoroughfares are Santa Monica, Olympic, and Pico Boulevards (its northern boundary, central artery, and southern boundary, respectively), as well as Avenue of the Stars and Century Park East and West. 90067 zip code.
Century City is an important business center, and many law firms and executives — particularly those with ties to the film, television, and music industries — have offices there.
More on Century City from Wikipedia
Westwood’s Profile, Demographics, Geo (incl. a Map), and Schools from LA Times Mapping LA Project
West Los Angeles
The district is bordered by Santa Monica on the west, Brentwood on the northwest, the unincorporated Sawtelle Veterans Administration grounds on the north, Westwood on the northeast, Rancho Park on the east and southeast, and Mar Vista on the south and southeast. Its generally accepted boundaries are the San Diego Freeway on the east, the Santa Monica Freeway on the south, the city limits of Santa Monica on the west, and Wilshire Boulevard on the north.
Its major thoroughfares are Olympic, Santa Monica, Pico, Wilshire, and Sawtelle Blvds, Barrington and Bundy Dr. Parts of 90025 and 90064 zip codes, per most sources.
This district contains an area of Japanese-American culture along Sawtelle Boulevard which is sometimes called Sawtelle (also described above).
More on West LA from Wikipedia
West LA’s Profile, Demographics, Geo (incl. a Map), and Schools from LA Times Mapping LA Project
West LA’s profile by LA Times seems to have gotten most criticism from almost everyone…
The major discrepancy seems to be the fact that “West” (in Los Angeles) does not usually apply to anything that is East of 405 freeway.
