Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Columbia was always wear my friends move when they can no longer afford Rockville or Gaithersburg

And Olney is where people move when they're racist and don't think Rockville or Gaithersburg schools have enough caucasians and can't afford living in Bethesda.

Anonymous wrote:Columbia was always wear my friends move when they can no longer afford Rockville or Gaithersburg

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw a bunch of HS kids puking around 3 pm, on a regular school day right at that Mcdonald's in Columbia close to the Columbia Athletic Club. By that Safeway. This happened several times, as DS had tennis lessons. There were several intoxicated kids too at that time.
Inside that Mc there was always a homeless guy whom I bought a meal for.
I can't say that I saw HS kids throwing up in Olney center. I am there a lot too. Maybe I just wasn't there at the right time?

You've got to be kidding with this crap. I have no idea why these threads turn into such a dumpster fire. I, too, could describe crappy things I see in a variety of towns without any way to verify if I'm telling the trust and/or those things are representative of the town as a whole.

They're both great places to raise a family, the end of the story is Olney is more rural than Columbia (which means Columbia has generally better shopping/dining options, but more crime).

On shopping/dining, which has been mentioned as a difference between the two areas a few times: The Columbia Mall is an upscale suburban mall a step below Tyson's Galleria with stores such as Nordstroms, J.Crew, Anthropologie, and the like. And don't worry, there IS a Cheesecake Factory. And, just to be a walking stereotype of a fairly well-off woman in her mid-30s, there is a Trader Joe's and Whole Foods right in Columbia. In addition to all the typical chains you'll find in a typical, nice suburb there are also some decent local places.

For comparable shopping and dining, you'll have to drive to Rockville from Olney. Olney has a little shopping center where the Safeway is, mostly with your typical bargain stores and fast, casual places. I think there is a bar there that is supposed to be a good place to get crab cakes. Now, is driving a bit further to a place technically outside your town a huge deal? No. Its like a 25/30 minute drive with typical traffic. But it speaks to the different vibe of the areas.

The other strongest, distinguishing factor is the fact Columbia is a planned community and feels like it--that is just personal preference. In addition, while the homes are generally well-maintained, most of the "villages" look quite dated. And while I like Columbia, I'll say this: A friend who lives in the area told me that NV Homes is starting a new community in Columbia and will be charging base prices from the high 800s--IMO, if you're going to pay amount that in Howard County, best to go 10 minutes a bit farther out to proper Clarksville, West Friendship, or Ellicott City.

Olney can definitely have more interesting housing stock--can get a bit more of a historic feel in the houses, but most are still your typical Maryland suburban brick front with siding.

Olney doesn't lack restaurants:
Grill Marx
Cava Mezze
Asian burrito
Brew Belly
Sardis Taphouse
Riccuitis
Sol Azteca
al Sospiro Trattoria
Olney Ale House (had a fire but plans to reopen)
Taco Bar
Silo Farms
Thai Cuisine
Wasabi Zen
Nirvana Indian
El Andariego
Smoketown BBQ
Dempsey’s
A new crab pace is coming but not sure of the name.

Good food without being pretentious!


OP, we looked at both Columbia and Olney. My family is diverse and we were worried about living somewhere my children would be a novelty. We rented a year in Olney and ultimately bought our house here. We’ve now been here 10 years. Just from my own isolated street view, families from many different ethnicities, races, religions and political views live on my street. Despite our differences we have monthly bookclub get togethers, neighborhood cookouts, bunco nights, and informal drinks on the driveway.

In regards to amenities, we may have one too many grocery stores, but we have numerous parks and playgrounds, walking trails, public library, outdoor pools and an indoor pool, the Olney Theater, a dog park, Sandy Spring Museum, the Olney Winery, several breweries, golf courses and a driving range, high ropes/adventure park, the farmers market and several incredible antique shops. Olney doesn’t want big box stores. They have resisted big retail and are willing to drive 15 minutes to get to Target, Costco, or Home Depot.

For the person posting the links to Columbia being ranked as one of the best places to live, Olney has been ranked too. I’m not sure how these rankings are created but from Wikipedia:
In 2013 it was ranked #22 in Money magazine's "top-earning towns" edition of "America's Best Places to Live."[1] In 2007, Olney ranked #17 on Money magazine's list of the 100 best places to live in the U.S.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw a bunch of HS kids puking around 3 pm, on a regular school day right at that Mcdonald's in Columbia close to the Columbia Athletic Club. By that Safeway. This happened several times, as DS had tennis lessons. There were several intoxicated kids too at that time.
Inside that Mc there was always a homeless guy whom I bought a meal for.
I can't say that I saw HS kids throwing up in Olney center. I am there a lot too. Maybe I just wasn't there at the right time?

You've got to be kidding with this crap. I have no idea why these threads turn into such a dumpster fire. I, too, could describe crappy things I see in a variety of towns without any way to verify if I'm telling the trust and/or those things are representative of the town as a whole.

They're both great places to raise a family, the end of the story is Olney is more rural than Columbia (which means Columbia has generally better shopping/dining options, but more crime).

On shopping/dining, which has been mentioned as a difference between the two areas a few times: The Columbia Mall is an upscale suburban mall a step below Tyson's Galleria with stores such as Nordstroms, J.Crew, Anthropologie, and the like. And don't worry, there IS a Cheesecake Factory. And, just to be a walking stereotype of a fairly well-off woman in her mid-30s, there is a Trader Joe's and Whole Foods right in Columbia. In addition to all the typical chains you'll find in a typical, nice suburb there are also some decent local places.

For comparable shopping and dining, you'll have to drive to Rockville from Olney. Olney has a little shopping center where the Safeway is, mostly with your typical bargain stores and fast, casual places. I think there is a bar there that is supposed to be a good place to get crab cakes. Now, is driving a bit further to a place technically outside your town a huge deal? No. Its like a 25/30 minute drive with typical traffic. But it speaks to the different vibe of the areas.

The other strongest, distinguishing factor is the fact Columbia is a planned community and feels like it--that is just personal preference. In addition, while the homes are generally well-maintained, most of the "villages" look quite dated. And while I like Columbia, I'll say this: A friend who lives in the area told me that NV Homes is starting a new community in Columbia and will be charging base prices from the high 800s--IMO, if you're going to pay amount that in Howard County, best to go 10 minutes a bit farther out to proper Clarksville, West Friendship, or Ellicott City.

Olney can definitely have more interesting housing stock--can get a bit more of a historic feel in the houses, but most are still your typical Maryland suburban brick front with siding.

Anonymous wrote:Neither are desirable areas.

Anonymous wrote:I saw a bunch of HS kids puking around 3 pm, on a regular school day right at that Mcdonald's in Columbia close to the Columbia Athletic Club. By that Safeway. This happened several times, as DS had tennis lessons. There were several intoxicated kids too at that time.
Inside that Mc there was always a homeless guy whom I bought a meal for.
I can't say that I saw HS kids throwing up in Olney center. I am there a lot too. Maybe I just wasn't there at the right time?

Anonymous wrote:Most of my friends who moved to Olney wouldn't move to Columbia because columbia is more "diverse" and "urban" and that wasn't what they wanted for schools. That's the Olney mindset (and has been for decades - it was the original white flight destination from silver spring)