On the other hand, they have been moving to frameworks with separate templates and long-lived processed serving multiple requests - just like every other langua

On the other hand, they have been moving to frameworks with separate templates and long-lived processed serving multiple requests - just like every other languange. But mod_php and logic mixed directly into the templates were the two main things that made it so easy to get started with, so with PHP moving to the same model as other languages, why not use another (even nicer) language?