(12/5) Emmitsburg seniors are becoming displaced by younger generations. Residents have fewer per capita cars than the county average. Rental properties in-town are "not bad" as far as rents go.

These are some of the preliminary findings generated thus far by a housing study being conducted by the Emmitsburg town staff.

The purpose of the study is to get a fix on the nature of the residential community in Emmitsburg to support future planning activities with the town boundaries.

Residential developments that have been constructed over the past several years have had an impact on Emmitsburg demographics and other aspects involving housing, according to the town planner. That has been one of a number of aspects of life in Emmitsburg that has been changing over time as Town Planner Susan Cipperly reviews census data spanning "a period of years."

Cipperly reviewed the current findings and status of the town housing study with the town Board of Commissioners late last month.

The study will try to amass a lot of information regarding the residential nature of the community, including how many people are living in individual households, numbers of renters verses numbers of homeowners, how many housing units exist, years of construction, how many are vacant, how many different types of housing, how many rooms does each have, and how long have the structures been occupied.

Thus far, the study has indicated "one thing that has happened in Emmitsburg….New subdivisions that we got after 2000 brought in a younger demographic and also brought children," she said. "The new subdivisions have really had an impact on the town in a number of ways."

A few of the highlights of the ongoing study thus far include:

• At 53.9 percent of the housing in Emmitsburg, single-family detached homes constitutes the largest single type of housing;
• Approximately 23.5 residential units in town were constructed between 2000 and 2004, while 25 percent were constructed in 1939 or earlier;
• 9.6 percent of Emmitsburg households have no vehicle available. The average in Frederick County is 4.2 percent;
• 11.3 percent of the renters pay from $300 to $499 month; 28 percent pay from $500 to $749; and
• As far as commute times (one way), 94 residents commute more then an hour and a half each way every day to work, while most commute in the 30 to 34 minute range, suggesting most work in the Frederick City area.