A Guide to Boston Areaways
Learn about areaways in the City and what steps you may need to take if you think you have an areaway
An areaway is a basement that continues past the building's frontage underneath the adjacent sidewalk. The areaway's ceiling provides the structural support for the sidewalk. In some cases, the areaway's ceiling and the sidewalk are one in the same.
I have an areaway, what do I do now?
Disclose the existence of an areaway
Please fill out the below questionnaire to report an areaway.
Give the areaway back
You can close out your license and give the areaway back to the City.
Fill out the below form and send it to areaway@boston.gov
Renew your areaway license
You can memorialize your areaway license with the City.
Fill out the form below and email to areaway@boston.gov
About Areaways
About
Areaways are products of the mid-nineteenth century city. They originated for the purposes of delivering coal directly into basements through a shoot. Coal holes then led to the creation of larger sidewalk vaults that allowed deliveries to be dropped straight into basements.
As advantageous as this new use of space for private interests appeared, even back then onlookers warned local governments about the long-term consequences of letting property owners encroach upon the public right of way.
We like to say that every areaway is a unique snowflake. Often, owners and tenants use them as additional storage space. Many areaways are filled with utility connections. Sometimes businesses have them open to customers, but usually areaways are too leaky to dedicate to critical uses and are frequently in need of repairs.
Areaways can be found throughout all of Boston's neighborhoods (and in other older cities), but they are concentrated in greatest numbers in the inner core—Downtown, Chinatown, Back Bay, North End, etc.
Signs you may be above an areaway include spotting a "hollow sidewalk" sign attached to the adjacent building, a coal hole cover, bollards, asphalt poured on top of the original sidewalk, or large granite/bluestone paving slabs. Still, determining if there really is an areaway from aboveground can be difficult.
Your building may have an areaway if a portion of the basement toward the street is extremely leaky or if you can hear faint sounds of pedestrians or cars above. If you're a building owner and you aren't sure, check your building plans (if you have them) or contact a structural engineer to investigate.
Areaways are a relic of historic Bostonian infrastructure. What originated as a utility access point, to deliver coal, evolved to accommodate other utilities, storage, and other usable subterranean spaces. By the 1920s areaways were no longer permitted in new construction. However, because of areaway’s antiquity and historic difficulties in record keeping, the City remains vastly unaware of existing areaways.
By disclosing the existence of an areaway, the City is able to collaborate with property owners when designing walkway and roadway reconstruction, maintaining utilities, and other projects that require underground service. If the City is aware of an areaway’s existence at the time of design then we can prevent unnecessary damage to a dwelling, and preserve the integrity of the areaway and adjoining building. Notifying the City mitigates against the possibility of future physical and financial harm to the property owner, pedestrians, and the City.
Owners of property with areaway’s, do not own the areaway itself. Rather, the areaway is owned by the City and licensed to the owner. Under the City’s Municipal Code section 11-6. by virtue of having an areaway, the property owner is in an agreement to maintain the walkway and hold the City harmless for any claims for damages resulting from maintenance and excavation. As well as a duty to maintain the walkway in good repair and condition at all times, and to indemnify and hold the City harmless against harms resulting from the walkways above the areaway.
By giving the areaway back to the City property owners avoid the cost of sidewalk maintenance, as well as liability stemming from harms that may result to persons and property resulting from a failure to maintain the areaway’s structural integrity. Areaways offer property owners minuscule additional square footage, with monumental financial risk and liability. By returning an areaway, property owners eliminate the duty to maintain the sidewalk and thereby absolve themselves from any potential claim arising from a failure to maintain the public right of way.
Lastly, the overall cost to keep an areaway and enter into a Licensing and Maintenance Agreement with the City can be eight times more expensive than returning the areaway. Therefore, by choosing to return the areaway property owners are saving money upfront, and in the future, while absolving themselves from legal liability.
As part of your application for the Outdoor Dining Program, you will need to submit an Areaway Letter from a registered structural engineer or architect confirming or denying the presence of an areaway below your intended outdoor dining area. See here for an example. Questions? Email areaway@boston.gov.
If a property owner is interested in returning an areaway to the City, during an active capital construction project, then the City will cover the cost to backfill the areaway and replace the sidewalk. If you are interested in returning your areaway to the City, please email areaway@boston.gov to inquire about whether your property qualifies for financial relief under the areaway closure incentives program. If there is a capital project underway at the time of inquiry, then the City will work with you. Under these circumstances you will only be responsible for the cost of relocating Non-City utilities and building a retaining.
Areaways and Sidewalk Repair
Why do areaways complicate sidewalk repair?
There is a surprisingly vast number of factors at play here. For one, unlike regular sidewalks that the City's Public Works Department can repair on its own, sidewalks above areaways require that PWD work closely with areaway owners and across other City departments. This can turn into a time-consuming and complicated process—and it is always an expensive one—for private property owners and the City alike.
Owners can either elect to repair their areaways to ensure they are structurally stable or they can close them. Closing an areaway, which requires building a retaining wall on the property line and backfilling the void, is usually a much less expensive option and returns the sidewalk to the care of the City. We prefer this option, in part because regular sidewalks deteriorate less quickly, can support street trees, and can be maintained by the City more easily going forward.
