In August, Paul Senker took a trip home to Philadelphia and had a revelation. The 32-year-old water resources engineer had been living alone in Los Angeles since the start of the pandemic, his fifth year in Southern California. Back in Philly, seeing his parents and his brother who had recently moved home, he thought: “California’s really great, but it’s not going to give me the thing I need. This is way better for this new world we’re in.”
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In December, Senker drove across the country. He spent Christmas Eve in New Orleans, and now lives a short drive from his parents in Philadelphia. He sees his brothers and friends he grew up with. “It definitely feels good to be back in the nest,” he told me last week. “I’m lucky my parents live someplace I want to live they didn’t follow the rest of our relatives down to Boca Raton.” Senker sees his folks once a week, in the backyard. They’re in their 70s and cautious about COVID. The other day, he surprise