$2000 reward for living near your work

If you live in Baltimore MD, work for one of these companies and buy a home nearby, you’ll be rewarded $2000 via the Baltimore City Live Near Your Work Program.

That’s $1000 from the City, and $1000 from the employer. The State used to contribute $1000 as well – don’t know what happened to that. What’s in it for the City? Less expense on public roads and transit. What’s in it for the employer? Happier, more productive employees who don’t waste 1-2 hours a day in traffic, and safer surrounding neighborhoods through the residential investment. The employer stipulates what ‘live near your work’ really means as far as eligibility goes, and you have to repay 20% of the grant back for each year under five years that you live there.

What makes the program so effective is that both the City and the employer actively promote the initiative. Check out this statement from Johns Hopkins University to its employees back when the program first began:

“Johns Hopkins has been working with its neighbors for decades to ensure the vitality and stability of the communities near our campuses. To that end, we have long encouraged our faculty, staff and students to live in these neighborhoods. This new partnership with the state and city gives us an opportunity to back that encouragement with cash.”

My workplace is five blocks from home – I’d say that’s worth some kind of reward :)

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neilkt