Olney has recently opened a new shopping center with stores all related to food, which has teenagers begging for something to do. photo by Paul Szewczyk ‘12

 Olney has four, soon to be five, major grocery stores, three pet stores, four tex-mex restaurants, five Chinese restaurants and zero entertainment opportunities, making our adorable-yet-mundane suburbia haven more like a collection of fragmented strip malls than a true, community. We have food, we have shops, we have all the dog chow we could ever need (including a plethora of the organic variety); however, we are lacking in a crucial area, not only for teenagers but for residents of all ages. The unfortunate truth is that there is nothing fun in Olney.

While businesses keep piling in to fill already occupied economic niches, no company seems to be capitalizing on the almost guaranteed monopoly found in Olney’s entertainment gap. Our student body has lashed out in outcry against this clear folly, first mourning over our movie theater’s demise and then bemoaning its conversion to a grocery store (no matter how great Harris Teeter’s overpriced sushi may be), but beyond the collective student complaint that our town’s lack of entertainment is annoying and disappointing, I feel that this fault has robbed us of not only our town’s entertainment but also our sense of community and unity. For bowling alleys, we go to Gaithersburg. For ice-skating, we drive to Wheaton. For movie theaters, we must drive to Rockville Town Center or the Rio. And, unfortunately, for parties and drugs and alcohol, we walk the couple of blocks to the nearest bash. In the absence of entertainment, Olney’s teens must resort to less-healthy measures of passing the time, leading to accidents, addiction, conflict, and, tragically, loss of lives. Entertainment in Olney—movie theaters or concerts or bowling alleys or safe clubs—is crucial not only for our enjoyment but for our safety as well. Olney can never be a secure and fulfilling community until we attain the entertainment alternatives we so desperately need. Our saturation in food over fun is not only nauseating, it’s devastating.

Additionally, this commercial gap tears down our town’s potential sense of unity and replaces it with disheartened apathy. How can we feel proud of our home when it values chicken low mien over bowling alleys? Sure we’ve got adorable children running through fountains in Olney Town Center, but where’s the ice skating rink for teens to cool off? Yes, we have every burrito we could imagine, but where’s the movie theater to watch blockbusters? In order to call Olney a community, our town requires some form of entertainment that teenagers along with people of other ages can enjoy.

Those who choose not to party or drink must go far to find the clean fun they desire. We view Olney as a bed rather than a home, as a place of residence rather than a community of life. Olney’s lack of an entire market area makes it no more of a community in this regard than the strip malls alongside Route 355. We are not a unified people, but rather a dysfunctional, discontented suburban mass.

Certain model communities near our own show us the almost utopian society that can exist in a town of full, enriched commercial opportunity. Rockville town center, one such example, features movie theaters, community centers and musical entertainment alongside plentiful food options. Silver Spring, Bethesda and Gaithersburg also flaunt entertainment opportunities. Those who live in these fulfilling, enticing cities enjoy parks, entertainment and food within walking distance of their well-kept and community-oriented neighborhoods, promoting clean, safe fun and a sense of togetherness.

The solution is a gradual transition from fragmented activities to unifying fun. We need safer sidewalks and crosswalks along Olney’s “downtown” area. We need greater entertainment possibilities that fit our whole town’s needs. We have already missed some valuable opportunities, such as redeveloping the Stained Glass Pub building into fast food rather than fun, and replacing the movie theaters with a grocery store, yet there is still hope. There is still time.

In order for Olney to grow into a true community, a true, unified town, we need to acquire commercial opportunities that exceed our current, narrow range. We need entertainment. We need a home. We need a market setting that provides us with an outlet for leisure. In order to become a community, we need to become fun.