As DC Residents Get Squeezed Out Of High-Priced Housing, Baltimore Looks To Attract Them

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- More bang for your buck in Baltimore.

Alex DeMetrick reports that's the pitch the city is making to Washington D.C. residents, who are being squeezed out of the housing market.

Baltimore has been trying to draw people from Washington D.C. to live here for years.

But now something new is in the air.

"We have identified growing pains in the DC area," said Steve Gondol, executive director of Live Baltimore.

The organization Live Baltimore is taking to social media to sell Baltimore to people who can no longer afford to buy housing in D.C.

"With very high impact ads basically showing the cost of a house there versus the cost of a house here," said Gondol.

A house here can cost half as much as comparable real estate in D.C.

And Live Baltimore says commuting to work in Washington by rail is growing.

A 2015 survey by MARC counted over 3,600 passengers at Penn Station boarding for Washington one day.

Add in four stations to the south of Baltimore and it's over 11,000, with more than 10,000 getting off at Union Station in Washington.

Besides commuting by train, Live Baltimore is also counting on technology -- in the form of telework.

Computers are increasingly making working for home or a satellite officer possible.

I think the five-day commute may be something that's diminishing in the future," Gondol said. "It makes Baltimore a much more attractive, appealing option than it's been in previous years."

And the city wants DC to know it.

Besides lower housing costs, the city is also awarding some first time buyers a $5,000 grant to help with down payments and closing costs.