Chambersburg PA, any thoughts? (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: sales, houses, to buy)

[boating_fool]

One of the options my company has offered me in relocations is Chambersburg PA.

What areas around Chambersburg can anyone recommend?

What kind of taxes am I looking at? I currently live in the Savannah GA area.

Besides shovel snow, what else is there to do (I don't hunt)?

Thanks,
Vincent

[military spouse]

Hi,
We lived there for 2 years and moved away about 2-3 months ago. We only moved away because of a better job that required less time away from home. We have lived all over the U.S. and I think Chambersburg is a great place, very family-oriented. You actually won't have to shovel too often, probably a handful of times a year, maybe a bit more. We bought a snow blower and it made the job much easier. It is a great time to buy a house there right now. Prices have really declined and inventory is up. Auto registration is $36/ year. State tax is 3.07%, local just went up and is about 1.7% (I think). Our property taxes on a $231,000 house were just under $2,000 per year. We lived in the borough (Laurich Meadows) and our utilites (water, trash, electric) ran under $100 per month up to about $250 per month if it was a really cold winter month. We were all electric. Sales tax is 6%, with food and clothing exempted. I miss it. We are in AZ right now and it just isn't the same. I really enjoyed the 4 seasons and the vivid green of everything during the spring.

[boating_fool]

That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. Greatly appreciated.

You mention auto registration, and home property tax. Are Pennsylvania's personal property taxes on vehicles (RV's, boats, motorcycles, automobiles, etc) on par with other states?

Taxes are one of my concerns with this relocation.

Thanks,
Vincent

[CHIP72]

I don't know if this will help or not, but if you like to travel Chambersburg is relatively close to a lot of places. With smaller cities, it is about 25 miles from Hagerstown (Chambersburg is actually the major northern town in the MD/WV/PA Tri-State Area) and 50-55 miles from Harrisburg. If you like history and Civil War stuff, Gettysburg is about 30 miles to the east and many of the significant battle sites in the West Virginia eastern panhandle and northern Virginia are within 45-90 minutes driving time. It is also about 2 hours from Washington and Baltimore and 2 1/2 to 3 hours from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. If you are more into outdoor recreation, it is near a couple different mountain ranges (the Appalachians and the range that becomes the Blue Ridge further south) and skiing is not too far away.

My personal opinion from living in the Harrisburg area and going through Chambersburg every so often is Chambersburg is a pretty nice town.

[yofis]

Hi, I read your message and I was wondering if you could tellme about schools, we are thinkin to move to PA or Il I just don't know which place is better for my daughters (10 and 6), we live in weston, Fl and I'm afraid of the weather there....

[mkellam]

Originally Posted by boating_fool

That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. Greatly appreciated.

You mention auto registration, and home property tax. Are Pennsylvania's personal property taxes on vehicles (RV's, boats, motorcycles, automobiles, etc) on par with other states?

Taxes are one of my concerns with this relocation.

Thanks,
Vincent

Vincent:
There is no personal property tax on the items you mentioned. Registration on vehicles is done on an annual basis. For example, cars are registered annually for $36 and you have to have an inspection which runs around $15.
Franklin county ranks as one of the top counties in PA. in terms of county taxes. Let me know if you have other questions.
Matt

[mkellam]

Originally Posted by yofis

Hi, I read your message and I was wondering if you could tellme about schools, we are thinkin to move to PA or Il I just don't know which place is better for my daughters (10 and 6), we live in weston, Fl and I'm afraid of the weather there....

You might take a look at the various school district websites for statistics, such as Welcome to GASD! Generally speaking, Greencastle has the best numbers.
Franklin County is a conservative, largely Republican (6-1 over Democrats) county.
The weather is not that bad. There's something to be said for having four seasons. The worst part is Dec.-Feb.
Let me know if I can answer other questions.

[rubydi]

i agree. i was born in Huntingdon and lived there a couple of different time. if i were to move back to the area, I believe I would live in Chambersburg because of it's location and because when I was visiting, I found it to be a very lovely and friendly city/town.

[EliEverIsAHero]

Apologies in advance for the act of thread necromancy: I'm aware this post is over a decade old, but I figured further opinions could be helpful.

Chambersburg is a small, quaint little town, with a somewhat more diverse and artistic/gentrified downtown area (though that may have changed with the coronavirus spread - haven't been there since before the pandemic hit earlier this year). In terms of amenities: there is a great Latinx grocery, there are a couple of decent cafes and some very good restaurants (including one Korean, pan-Latin American, and pan-Mediterranean restaurant each), and there is a surprisingly decent local library for a town of Chambersburg's size.

Some other notes about things to consider:

I can't speak to the public school system (other people have pointed out that locals prefer to send their kids to private schools in neighboring communities if/when they have the means), but there is a privately funded liberal arts college in the area that might be amenable to students looking for small class sizes, with the awareness that their few graduate programs tend to be limited and mostly vocationally focused.

Employment is still focused mainly on industry (which is to say, factories) and agriculture in the immediate and surrounding areas, with some service work from the various chain restaurants that exist further along Norland and towards the interestate. There is also a nearby military outpost that is a major local employer, but other than that and the aforementioned liberal arts college, white-collar work is hard to come by unless you're willing to commute to somewhere in the neighboring area (broadly defined). As a result, a car is something of a necessity.

The area is very "Red State" Trump Country and, while people are friendly, they are less so if you openly express liberal political views/inclinations. The area is also demographically heavily Christian, sans one conservative synagogue and no houses of worship for persons of other faiths - which might make things more difficult if you are Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. Aside from that, the area does have a Pride parade and is gradually becoming friendlier to openly LGBT people.