I definitely understand the appeal to wanting to "rep" a city that you feel you have a strong connection with. As someone who has lived in the city for almost a decade now, I would feel awkward telling people who may be interested to know what life in the city is like that I was from here if I had never actually lived here. I think it's perfectly reasonable to tell people that you're from "The Baltimore area" or "Baltimore County" if you were brought up in Catonsville. but there's a lot more to be discussed about the city itself than our sports teams and Inner Harbor. If you feel like representing Baltimore City is really important to you, I would recommend making the leap and moving somewhere in the city that suits you.