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becausefrog t1_isowcxk wrote

Sloped sidewalks was one of the things I noticed a lot when I first moved to the Back Bay many years ago. It makes walking on ice even trickier, although I suspect it's meant to help with drainage.

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Menorah_Fedora t1_ispo9fe wrote

Or perhaps they're so old it was for sewage 😅

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michael_scarn_21 t1_ispzawy wrote

My hometown is medieval and there is a 1000 year street with sloped sides that was called Shit Street because it was where all the sewage ran down to the river. You never know haha

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echocomplex OP t1_isowx7q wrote

Makes sense, I've seen other sloped sidewalks in the city. It may not be evident from the picture but these ones are mega sloped. I didn't get out a ruler but my rough feeling is the lower side is 8-10+ inches lower than the high side in places.

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NotARobotDefACyborg t1_ist0tev wrote

You're not wrong, and it's absolute hell on the knees. Salem St is the same way. (Or at least, it was, 15 years ago.) Not quite as severe a slope, but still quite noticeable.

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Captain_Quinn t1_isr7nfr wrote

Water street, yo. gotta manage the water

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New-Examination4678 t1_isxktos wrote

Boston locations and streets tend to be very literal. Beacon hill used to have a beacon and long wharf used to be really long. Wonder if water street used to be the last street before the ocean.

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