The scarcity of parking remains a problem in the neighborhood, although a decade of permit parking and stringent city enforcement on Husky football game days has all but erased the sting that Montlake residents used to feel when Husky fans once set up tailgate parties on their parking strips at 10 a.m.
Petty crime can also be a problem.
Burglaries are not unknown in Montlake, either. The Daily Grind lost its cash register and stereo in a recent burglary, while across the street, Montlake Bike Shop has menacing metal bars inside its windows, installed after five burglaries in two weeks in 1985. But they do work. Fabulous big city stuff.