H eadlines
Pandemic Makes Moving a Bigger Hassle
L OCA L
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
BETSY MORGAN WANTS to
move to Israel in late February
or early March, but has had
trouble finding someone
to sublet her Center City
apartment. She’s posted ads in Facebook
housing groups but there’s been
little interest. Her landlord said
she would get about 20 inqui-
ries a week on Zillow when
renting the place before the
pandemic, but now she’s lucky
to hear from even one person.

Moving is stressful during
the best of times. And a global
pandemic throws a whole
new set of challenges at those
aiming to put down roots
somewhere else. An interna-
tional move like Morgan’s is
a complicated process, but
even local moves are fraught
due to lack of in-person tours
and the need to manage social
distancing with movers.

Sisters Victoria and Sarah
Alfred-Levow returned to
their mother’s house on the
Main Line when their college
classes went virtual. After a few
months, they knew it was time
to find a place of their own.

“We decided to move to East
Falls because it kind of fits that
bill of being close enough to
visit, but far enough away that
it actually felt like a new start,”
Victoria Alfred-Levow said.

Much of the apartment
search took place online, but
they were able to arrange an
in-person tour of their favorite
place before signing a lease.

After settling on a September
move-in date, the siblings hired
movers. Having strangers in
their house was surreal after
many months of isolation, even
though everyone wore masks.

They were also concerned
that their landlord wanted to
send a handyman to fix some
maintenance issues in the new
apartment. “It felt so stressful just
knowing, ‘Oh my gosh, am I
going to have to worry about
a stranger breathing in my
house?’” Victoria Alfred-
Levow said.

Rebecca Rendsburg and her
husband David eyed a move to
Philadelphia from New York
for years before the pandemic,
but new restrictions threw
their plans into question.

David Rendsburg’s mother
lives in Lower Merion, and
he attended Akiba Hebrew
Academy (now Jack M. Barrack
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Betsy Morgan
Courtesy of Betsy Morgan
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FEBRUARY 25, 2021
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