Zoning districts · Article 31
Former Midtown Cultural District (now Skyline) zoning
The blocks around Washington Street, Tremont Street and lower Boylston Street that were long zoned as the Midtown Cultural District under Article 38 are now mapped as Skyline districts under Article 31 of the Boston Zoning Code.
Official Zoning Map 1A, Downtown (as amended, effective October 28, 2025) shows the whole Downtown map area, including the former Midtown Cultural blocks, as SKY or SKY-LOW-DT. No Article 38 subdistricts appear on the map or its legend. The Midtown Shadow Overlay is still shown on Map 1A, and the Skyline districts are within the Restricted Parking (Overlay) District.
The Article 38 dimensional tables are not current zoning for this area, so we don't reproduce them here. A detailed Article 31 Skyline page is coming; until then, see Article 31 in the Boston Zoning Code.
Last verified Oct 2026. Checked against official Zoning Map 1A, Downtown (as amended, effective October 28, 2025) and the BPDA zoning subdistrict boundaries, which show no remaining Article 38 subdistricts. Source: Boston Zoning Code, Article 31.
Nearby district pages
Overlays shown on the map: Midtown Shadow Overlay, Restricted Parking (Overlay) District, Coastal Flood Resilience Overlay District (CFROD).
Subdistricts
| Map code | Subdistrict type |
|---|---|
| SKY | SKY District (Article 31) |
| SKY-LOW-DT | SKY-LOW District, Downtown Historic Dimensional Overlay (Article 31) |
Where the Code gives a height without a unit, we show it in feet.
Numbers in parentheses, like (1), are footnotes in the Code table. They often add conditions or exceptions, so read them in Article 31. The article also includes district-wide rules on midtown shadow overlay, restricted parking (overlay) district, coastal flood resilience overlay district (cfrod).
See what fits on a Midtown lot
Pull a real parcel into Stratum by address, see its setbacks and buildable area, and sketch to scale on the same canvas.
Try Stratum freeStratum is not affiliated with the City of Boston or the Boston Planning Department (formerly the BPDA). This summary is for early design and is not a legal determination. Zoning is amended over time, and overlay districts, map amendments and the table footnotes can change what applies to a parcel. Always verify with the Boston Zoning Code and the city before relying on these numbers.