PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — New York City is not the New York City they called home. When the pandemic shut down life as millennials know it — jobs, Broadway, live music, museums and more –thousands packed up and left. Some didn’t even bother to pack.

25-year-old Jesse Elgene, who used to sell tickets for a Broadway company, headed south to Newport News in March.

“On Friday the 13th, I just booked a Greyhound Bus with about 12 hours notice and took the train back to my apartment — left most of my stuff in New York — I thought maybe two weeks would be enough and now three and a half months later I’m still here in Newport News but it’s been awesome,” Elgene said.

Elgene moved in with his girlfriend, Lexee Leach, a singer who was furloughed from her job at Busch Gardens. The pair was featured in a recent New York Times article about those sent packing by the coronavirus pandemic.

They’ve enjoyed the warm weather, fresh local seafood, touring the campus of Christopher Newport University and parks and trails with their new puppy.

“We’ve been going on a lot of hikes– a lot more outdoor activities than we probably would have been able to do in New York anyway,” said Leach.

Elgene isn’t the only New Yorker who’s come to Hampton Roads during the pandemic.

Virginia Beach Native 24-year-old Eva Dondero, a graphic artist, has said goodbye city life. She’s back in her childhood room at her parent’s house in southern Virginia Beach.

“I had my job — I was the lead graphic designer for a start-up company there but I kinda got cut short. It’s like I really don’t know what’s gonna happen,” said Dondero.

The demographic shift could be significant. New York is bracing for the loss of thousands of young people who are flying south in the search for jobs, more space and more affordable housing.

“I can count on two hands how many people I know for sure who have already cut their leases.–they’ve moved home and they’ve started to look for new job opportunities in Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, and places like that,” she said.

Eva is sampling the graphic art job market in Hampton Roads and prefers to remain in Virginia Beach.

Meanwhile, Elgene and Leach are also considering planting a stake in the region. The singer hopes the governor will soon reopen live music venues at Busch Gardens and Elgene says no job is off the table, including work at Newport News Shipbuilding.