With Improvements, Baltimore Seeks to Steal D.C.'s Thunder...and Residents

"Replace the crabcake with a cheesesteak, and a renovated Lexington Market could one day resemble Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told a crowd at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond in Baltimore on Tuesday," reports Jack Lambert. "Rawlings-Blake headlined a morning discussion, called Redefining Rust Belt, including participants from Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Detroit. Her speech highlighted ways Baltimore can attract 10,000 new families by 2020, which include a $20 to $25 million renovation of Lexington Market."

"With a few improvements — such as the Lexington Market project — Rawlings-Blake said Baltimore could be poised to attract new residents from places like D.C.," notes Lambert. "Baltimore, she said, will compare favorably to the nation’s capital in the future as it improves its infrastructure."

“Particularly now that the rents continue to rise in D.C., we have some great opportunities to poach from some of their residents,” she said.