Reply To: Why do so many people give the advise "ask your local orthodox rabbi"

The phrase probably dates back to a time where there were less rabbis and more emphasis on local minhag. Thus, in a given town, you would have one or two poskim recognized by all, who determined the practices of that town. nowadays, plenty of people have semicha and minhag hamakom doesn’t really exist in america (see rav moshe’s teshuvah abt tefillin on c”hm on this).