Is there no buyout option? The city should be asking for some of that infrastructure money to offer to buy the streets back. Seems like a lot of the ones I drive by are being used as public rights of way anyway. Doesn't seem fair to be asking for homeowners to pay maintenance on them if there's no way out of the situation for them.

I never understood the whole “Private Street Dangerous” thing. From my understanding these were informal streets and the houses just popped up around them. Some of these streets are extremely dangerous

What percentage of homeowners on these private streets even qualify for this?? Seems very limited.

We had to pay $150 per foot of frontage and it became a public way. That process was years long.

You have to pay them to offload the rights? That's insane! You would think the city would want to take a more proactive approach than that

Why would anybody (whether it's business or city) take on additional liability for free? The city would then be on the hook for potential maintenance, access, public transportation and snow plowing. I can understand why they might require one time compensation.

It’s total BS. I lived on a dead end private road for 5 years off Vernon street and it was absolute shite. The plows would barely even touch it, and the few plows that did the complex at the top of the hill would literally lift up their plows and drive past us as they went back down. Residents still have to pay property and excise tax but you don’t get the same benefits as everyone else who lives on a “public” street.

This is the way it has always worked in Massachusetts. The people who built my house in 1910 paid thousands in 1956 to have the city incorporate the road. Before that it was dirt.

This should come up during the purchase process and whether the parcel is attached to public or private right of way is reflected in the land value.

Yup. We are paying about $15,000 for 10 years for the road conversion/paving. It's ridiculous.

So does it reduce land value? Because otherwise you would be paying twice: once for the rights and once to be rid of them.

It should yes but it all depends on what the buyer is willing to pay. Your responsibilities and risks as a owner of a private road should be explained to you by the people you hire to assist in buying a home; inspector, lawyer, and it may show on an appraisal under easements and adverse property features.

Two otherwise identical properties one on public access and the other private should value the former more as there are less risks.

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There’s always a buyout option, but someone (read: property owners on the street) has to pay to get the road up to city street standards. Almost no one ever does it because that’s expensive (and in the case of dead end streets, those near the entrance don’t want to foot the bill for the benefit of those at the end of the street).