Need more information about Olney (Baltimore, Columbia: crime, townhouse, neighborhood)

[localcall]

Anyone here currently lives in Olney but work in Baltimore (BWI airport)? I'm considering Olney as a possible place to live, but I'm wondering whether my commute will be painful. I need to be close to Rockville/DC since that is where my significant other works, and I figured me going against the traffic to work will be better than her commuting with traffic.

Also, after doing an Olney search in this forums, a lot of people seems to enjoy living there. The prices seems relatively reasonable (350k for a townhouse), the schools are rated pretty high, and the location seems to be good. Are there any cons out there that I should be aware of? Is this area being developed (i.e. booming) or is it more of a settled area already? Any insight will be greatly appreciated

[autimom4ever]

Originally Posted by localcall

Anyone here currently lives in Olney but work in Baltimore (BWI airport)? I'm considering Olney as a possible place to live, but I'm wondering whether my commute will be painful. I need to be close to Rockville/DC since that is where my significant other works, and I figured me going against the traffic to work will be better than her commuting with traffic.

Also, after doing an Olney search in this forums, a lot of people seems to enjoy living there. The prices seems relatively reasonable (350k for a townhouse), the schools are rated pretty high, and the location seems to be good. Are there any cons out there that I should be aware of? Is this area being developed (i.e. booming) or is it more of a settled area already? Any insight will be greatly appreciated

Olney is a town of its own. Very close (neighbor knows neighbor). Schools are good and your communte will be about 30 - 60 minutes. You could go up 108 (Olney's main road... mainly one lane both ways) to 32 take 32 to 95 and 95 to BWI airport). Your SO might have a longer commute unless she is working in Rockville (if so she could take the backroads and it could be about the same as for you). The downside is that there is a good distance from any highway (495 and 270). There is some crime there (mainly with teens) but nothing horrible (there is crime everywhere).

Olney is a good "inbetween" city for the both of your jobs.

Hope this helps

[localcall]

Originally Posted by autimom4ever

Olney is a town of its own. Very close (neighbor knows neighbor). Schools are good and your communte will be about 30 - 60 minutes. You could go up 108 (Olney's main road... mainly one lane both ways) to 32 take 32 to 95 and 95 to BWI airport). Your SO might have a longer commute unless she is working in Rockville (if so she could take the backroads and it could be about the same as for you). The downside is that there is a good distance from any highway (495 and 270). There is some crime there (mainly with teens) but nothing horrible (there is crime everywhere).

Olney is a good "inbetween" city for the both of your jobs.

Hope this helps

Thanks! That actually helps a lot. Plugging in directions to Google Maps, I felt that the 7 miles of local road (108) to 32 is the most dangerous part of my possible commute since it is one lane and I would imagine that any traffic there would stretch on for miles. But I have flexibility in my work time so I can potentially leave early or late to avoid traffic. My S.O. works close to the White Flint Mall in Rockville... that's about 10 miles away. I hope taking 97 south won't be too hard on her. Teenage crimes doesn't sound too bad. I live in Columbia right now, and although it is nice/great, we do still experience some crime here. I would imagine crime in Columbia probably occurs at a higher rate than Olney.

[talk2u]

There's usually no traffic on Rt. 108 or Rt. 97 unless there's an accident. Traffic is a little heavier when school's in session, but overall it's an easy commute - not to mention a beautiful drive...that is if you like driving on curvy, country roads, like I do.

[autimom4ever]

Originally Posted by localcall

Thanks! That actually helps a lot. Plugging in directions to Google Maps, I felt that the 7 miles of local road (108) to 32 is the most dangerous part of my possible commute since it is one lane and I would imagine that any traffic there would stretch on for miles. But I have flexibility in my work time so I can potentially leave early or late to avoid traffic. My S.O. works close to the White Flint Mall in Rockville... that's about 10 miles away. I hope taking 97 south won't be too hard on her. Teenage crimes doesn't sound too bad. I live in Columbia right now, and although it is nice/great, we do still experience some crime here. I would imagine crime in Columbia probably occurs at a higher rate than Olney.

There is a much faster way then 97 S to get to White Flint. 108 towards Laytonsville to Muncaster Road - Left on Muncaster - Straight (crossing over Redland Road) until Crabbs Branch - Left on Crabbs Branch - Right on
E. Gude - Left on 355 (or Rockville Pike) and striaight all they way to White Flint.

I would guess 30-40 Min max

[localcall]

I saw somebody make a post about Olney after me, so I'm recounting my little side trip for anyone curious about the area. I just drove down to Olney after work today, and I must say, I am fairly impressed with the location. The town center is more developed than I would have thought, and the place had a somewhat small town feel to it. The town center is located in the intersection of 108 and Georgia, and it housed a good number of decent shopping centers that looked new or were at least maintained very well. I saw a Giants, Shoppers, Roots Natural Market, TJ Maxx, Homegoods, CVS, a thai restaurant, a couple of japanese restaurants, a lot of fast food places, Caribou Coffee, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and a community center. Those were just at the top of my head as they had a whole lot more. It seemed like they have a good mix of independent stores as well as chain stores. Plus, at around 8pm, there was still a lot of people walking around, which was a good sign to me that it was a very safe place to live. It actually reminded me a lot of Ellicott City, which is also a nice location. Housing prices seemed to be a lot more reasonable than most places that I've looked at. If I had a family, this will definitely be a place I'd consider to raise them as supposedly this area have very good schools. The negative side of Olney is that it is far from any major highways. I had to drive around 8 miles in 108 to get to 32. As mentioned above by other posters, it is not a bad drive. Even though it is one lane, it didn't have a lot of traffic lights. Still, it is far. And getting to DC might be even more painful if you are driving. Getting to the beltway will be a long commute in itself. Also, it seemed to me that the town is more geared towards families. This could be a "bad" thing if you are young and single. Of course, if you are not, then this could be great thing. My consensus is that, if you work near Olney, you should live there.

[rumpshaker33]

Hi,
Olney is great. I survived living here when I was single and now that I'm married and have a family...I can't imagine living anywhere else. It's was just rated #17 in the best places to live in Money Magazine! It's tucked away nicely from Metro stops, ect which brings crime.
Rockville is a hop, skip and a jump and Balt is about 45 min in traffic. Not bad. Good Luck and welcome to the neighborhood

[khelawanj]

Originally Posted by localcall

Anyone here currently lives in Olney but work in Baltimore (BWI airport)? I'm considering Olney as a possible place to live, but I'm wondering whether my commute will be painful. I need to be close to Rockville/DC since that is where my significant other works, and I figured me going against the traffic to work will be better than her commuting with traffic.

Also, after doing an Olney search in this forums, a lot of people seems to enjoy living there. The prices seems relatively reasonable (350k for a townhouse), the schools are rated pretty high, and the location seems to be good. Are there any cons out there that I should be aware of? Is this area being developed (i.e. booming) or is it more of a settled area already? Any insight will be greatly appreciated

I grew up in Olney and hated it. My parents still live there. It was ranked 17 in the US by Money Magazine as a top place to live, and its possibly different from 15 years ago. The commute out of Olney to go south is mostly via Georgia Ave which is VERY congested during rush hour. But you may not encounter that since you work in Baltimore...but there are no highways close by, and rte 108 will likely be the road you take in the morning which is a one lane road for most of the way.

[JRS]

We were looking in other areas including Rockville and Silver Spring but figured out that Olney was the best commute for my husband to the BWI area. You might want to also consider taking 32 to 29 to 198/28 to Georgia coming from BWI to Olney - that only took 45 minutes in rush hour traffic the other day.
But yes, obviously 108 is good too.

[Jammin4]

As I recall, they just voted to cut a new highway straight through Rte 28 ..Norbeck Rd area. A LOT of people are incensed about it. As I recall it's referred to as an "IC" interconnector to connect Georgia Ave to ??Rte 29? Not sure. Do a google search and see what you can find. This might resolve your commuting issues, but it will raise others. Easier access means more population...more business...more crime...more traffic...I would strongly encourage research.

Last year I worked in the routine door to door ministry with my congregation. We map out our assigned congregation area into smaller areas for the ministry assignments. Lo and behold we came upon an entire new neighborhood consisting of two streets and about 30 new homes all occupied!!! Olney is growing!!!!!!! If there's empty land, it will be bought and exploited. When I moved, they had just sold one of the old country clubs on Layhill Road. I shudder to think what will "pop up" there!!! (Actually that's still Silver Spring area though.)