Gettysburg local here (M30s). Grew up in the Adams county (Gettysburg is the county seat of Adams county) moved away for several years and then my wife and I decided to move back. From reading the comments above it sounds like many of the other commenters have never lived here so I will try to give a more in depth dive.

OVERVIEW: Gettysburg is a small town (rough town population of 10,000) but compared to most other towns of similar size in PA and the greater Appalachian/mid Atlantic area it is thriving. Most of this is due to the fame it receives as a premier civil war tourism destination, but it is also a college town (Gettysburg College) and has a strong agriculture/agro tourism sector as well. If your a fan of Gilmore Girls my wife often compares Gettysburg to Stars Hollow. It has that charming small town feel and if you are here long enough you will get to know a lot of The local people which can be good or bad depending.

JOBS: as mentioned before a lot of the jobs are tourist based or agriculturally based. Gettysburg is surrounded by the PA fruit belt (primarily apples, but also peaches and cherries) Knouse Foods, maker of Mussleman and Lucky Leaf is HQd in the county and Mott’s also has a presence. Gettysburg itself does not have a ton of jobs outside of the industries i allude to above, sure it has healthcare/law/law enforcement jobs that all functioning towns have but there are not many white/blue collar jobs in addition to these. Many people commute to other towns/cities to find these jobs and live in Gettysburg (GBG) bc of the charm and lower cost of living. Gbg is located only about 10min north of the Maryland line so a fair number of people will commute to Fredrick MD (30min), Baltimore (1hr), or even DC / Northern VA (1hr +). Harrisburg / Hershey PA are both popular work locations also at 40+ min away. But since you said you would be moving for your husbands job you won’t have to worry about that.

FOOD AND STUFF: the mom/pop restaurant scene in Gettysburg is actually pretty good. Bc it’s a tourist town food is one of the things gbg does best. These are not Michelin star establishments but they get the job done. As opposed to what others have said in these thread, I would say gbg has excellent Mexican food, this is a result of a roughly 25% Hispanic population in the area due primarily to their work in the Agro industry. Pizza places and traditional American cuisine is also great. We have an award willing Irish pub (the GarryOwen) as well. I’d say it’s lacking most in Asian and African cuisine. As far as stores go gbg town center has lots of boutiques and shops for tourists. Outside of town is a Walmart (not a super Walmart though), several grochery stores, Michael’s, Marshall’s, and Tractor Supply. If you want more big name stores your best bet is Hanover (20 min East) or Fredrick Md. those towns have everything else target, sams club, Costco, Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc. also Gettysburg has a weekly farmers market and Adams county had world class fruit stands. There are several breweries/distilleries in town and quite a few wineries / ciders as well. As far as things to do it there is a lot of outdoor stuff, as someone above mentioned, State parks to the west with Michaux State Forest and Appalachian Trail, Codorus lake to the east, Cunningham, Falls, State Park, and Catoctin Mountain Park, just to the south in Maryland, and of course the battlefield. There is a ski mountain about 15 min south of town called ski liberty (owned by Vale), and there are quite a few golf courses around also.

POLITICS/ECONOMY: when I was a kid growing up in the area was way more rural feeling. Over time though this has begun to shift, I believe it is a direct result of many Marylanders moving into the state for tax reasons and then commuting to Baltimore / DC for work, as well as the influence of the college. This has had the result of Gettysburg becoming a more diverse and welcoming town than it perhaps was 20 years ago. Bc of the college /tourist business people are very friendly to just about everyone. There are good ole boys in big trucks who will fly trump flags but Gettysburg is also a very pro LGBQT town that holds LGBQT events / festivals as well. So like many areas you will get all flavors of society. The town leans liberal, the county goes conservative. I think Trump won the county last election with 60% of the vote. I’d say gbg is squarely middle class income wise maybe slightly lower middle class if you throw in the rest of the county.

SCHOOLS: there are 5 public school districts in Adams County. I don’t know how district operate in CA but in PA each one acts independently of each other, even if they are in the same county. So Adams county has Gettysburg School District , Upper Adams (north of gbg), Bermudian Springs (NE), littlestown (SE), Fairfield (SW), and Conowago Valley (E). None of these schools are bad. Conversely none of them are Harvard prep schools. They are all perfectly fine public schools. If I had to pick one as the best it’s probably Gettysburg SD, but it’s not head and shoulders above the rest. Also the size of these schools trend fairly small. Gbg and conowago valley would be the biggest with approximately 250 kids per grade with Fairfield being the smallest at 100 or less. Popular sports here are as you can guess football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. But wrestling and field hockey are VERY popular too which I’m guessing is unusual to someone coming from CA.

SUMMARY: I think gettysburg is a great place to grow up as a kid, a great place to raise a family, and a great place to retire. The area it lacks the most is building a career especially for young/mid career people and for people in their 20s looking for excitement. That’s why my wife and I moved to DC for a few years but eventually we decided to come back. it’s just a great little community. I commute a decent distance to work in another town. But my wife can work from home which is honestly the ideal scenario. A lot of people I grew up with moved away for/after college but like myself many have gravitated back over the years. My wife from suburban Philly and would never go back to that life. She’s smitten with the small town charm.

Hope this helps! If you have any specific question feel free to message me direct!