Harratt St, West Hollywood

Relatively quiet, especially given that there are so many nightlife spots within a stone's throw. Every now and then you have to contend with parking congestion -- even though the streets are all permit-only from 7pm-7am, people will risk it or score passes from friends. Street parking can sometimes be tough after 8 or so, especially on Friday nights.

There is an elementary school on Hammond that causes MAJOR parking congestion between 2:30-3:30pm during the school year. It's best to try not to return home during this span of time.

While the permit parking does help protect the residents' parking space, parking enforcement takes it a little too far. The same person has been working our street every night for as long as I lived on Harratt, and they really should know the residents' cars for the most part, but I got towed one night after forgetting to put my pass up. I'd lived there for nearly four years, with the same car, at that point.

People generally keep to themselves around here, but are mostly cordial. There was a brief string of petty (very, very petty) crime in 2009, mostly minor defacement of property. Someone stuck a ball of ground beef to the side of my car, our dog-i-pot was tagged, some sidewalk and tree-carving graffiti, things like that.

There are lots of dog owners in the area, so you'll meet people out walking your little buddy. The downside of this is that there are a number of irresponsible pet owners who do not pick up after their pets, even though there are plenty of Dog-i-Pots (animal waste disposal units that provide bags) around.

There is a construction project that has been trying to push itself through since at least 2007, a high-rise on the other side of the cinderblock wall that borders the north side of Harratt. They bought up two houses which are now sitting empty, and periodically play home to squatters. I've seen drug deals going down over there. My husband and I left our building primarily due to this, as well as the impending possibility of a massive construction project.