Anyone else finding the empty streets unnerving/frightening?

[QuimJongUn]

DH and I usually go out for our half hourish of exercise (a walk, locally) when he finishes wfh, between 6pm and 7pm daily. As the lockdown has bedded in and the streets have got quieter, it's become a bit unnerving out there. We live in a large city but we often see nobody at all, and the ones we do see often have their faces covered with masks/scarves - we've even seen the odd balaclava. There are very few cars around and in our suburb we've not seen one police officer/car. And if course the shops are mainly closed. We've also been looking at the live traffic cams in our city centre and it looks even eerier there.

I'm not saying we don't feel safe exactly, just that I've realised that safety in numbers is yet another thing I took for granted in the Before Times. I'm constantly on edge when we're out - if someone wanted to commit a crime, the fact that there's nobody about might make it easier for them to do so. It's not so bad in the daytime but towards the evening it feels worse. Hopefully the lighter evenings will help.

Anyone else noticed this?

I live in a large village and the roads are unnaturally busy with families & couples going for walks / bike rides
All the people who are usually at school / work elsewhere are suddenly home and exercising. I work from home normally so I'm usually home when it's quiet.
We have a road with a pavement to one side of our property and fields with footpaths the other and honestly I've never seen so many people on them.

I get the feeling there are people in the village who have never done any exercise in their lives but who have taken the rules as they 'must' now do exercise once a day rather than they are allowed to.

@wonkylegs perhaps the people who are usually out and about in the cities (or mine anyway) are heading out into the villages/countryside for their exercise? We have a huge open space in my city which is apparently chock-a-block with people running/cycling/walking (it's usually quite quiet). We never venture that far on our walks though.

It’s no different here. I live in a tiny rural hamlet and I never see anyone now and didn’t before either.
We have the same volume of farm vehicles about. But I do find it weird how many cars are parked. It looks like Christmas Day outside houses and it’s so still.

Busy where I live. Hardly any traffic which is a lovely change but lots of walkers, cyclists and joggers. We now have a completely different type of rush hour.

One of us takes our dog along our street around 10pm before we go to bed, it's always quiet and I usually don't mind even in the dark but at the moment it seems so un-naturally quiet that it's almost a bit twilight zone ish!!

It's the background noise of distance cars and things that's you don't normally notice until they're all gone!

I think it's the jarring difference between the usually busy streets and how it is now that's so unnerving. Here's some live traffic cam pictures of my city centre (easily recognisable!) yesterday lunchtime. Anyone who knows it will know what it's usually like on a Monday lunchtime. I wouldn't fancy wandering around when it gets dark!

And a main route into the city centre yesterday evening 😱

@FrangipaniBlue Twilight Zone-ish is right! And the lack of background noise (apart from distant sirens, often, which doesn't help) definitely adds to the eerie feel.

I live not far from the main road in the picture I posted above. It's usually teeming with traffic, even quite late into the evening. It's absolutely silent now.

I live in suburbia on a thoroughfare to the shops and park.
It's so busy.

Agree OP ... those photos look straight out of 28 Days Later

I agree OP it was very unnerving. I'm out and about most days getting stuff for the oldies on the road, so I'm pretty much used to it now. I think it will be odd when it's back to normal!

Instead of thinking about empty streets, try to think of full homes - all the families spending time together, driving each other crazy, playing stupid games, cooking together, laughing.... behind all the closed doors is a lot of laughter and love too

It's very strange, isn't it? I've found myself feeling like I was in a zombie movie when I've taken DS out in the evening (he seems to sleep much better if he gets some exercise after dinner).

Our road is usually bumper to bumper traffic for much of the day, so it being so silent bar the occasional ambulance is very eerie!

@SunInTheSkyYouKnowHowIFeel that's a lovely, full-of-hope take

I live in a village and you do see people out and about, though the roads are very quiet but with everyone’s cars on the drive. But i have heard several family rows as I walk past houses. So while it is quiet it doesn’t seem peaceful - it feels like there is a lot of simmering tension behind closed doors

Waves to QuimJonUn. Up here in the villages there's not a great deal of difference, although conversations between drivers and pedestrians look comical.

Opposite of SunInTheSkyYouKnowHowIFeel!

I understand what you mean. I have no problem with my teenager going out on her own normally but I won't let her at the moment. Sounds dramatic but there would be no witnesses if someone pulled you in to car or came out of the bushes!

I'm in a rural town in NZ, and there are always people out walking when I'm out. Not lots of people, but more people walking than usual (loving the no cars!!) and everyone is so friendly and we all speak. I'm loving it. Also in NZ people are putting teddy bears and other toys in their street facing windows, so it's fun spotting them.

I love it. When you are our for your walk it's a perfect opportunity to take some photos and actually look at the buildings without parked cars in the way.

Good point @IvinghoeBeacon - I did think also of all the people stuck inside arguing or worse but trying to also remain positive!

It's the sky that freaks me out. No contrails. It feels like the world has shut down (which in many ways it has).

I get what you mean OP. I don’t notice it so much from my house as we live right next to the main ring road which surrounds our town, and while it’s quieter than usual - there is still plenty of traffic as it’s the main road that everyone uses.

Going out for a walk in the opposite direction however is a different story.

I live in NI and it reminds me of times in the 80s/90s when there were specific threats and we all stayed home. I remember being a teenager at the time of the Drumcree standoff and our streets being empty. It’s the only time in my life that I know of the local petrol stations closing - they are normally open 24/7 but during that time they closed. I vividly remember walking from my house into the Main Street in the town to go to a youth event and I didn’t pass a single person or car the whole way. That’s how it feels now and it is definitely unnerving.

I am just hoping we avoid the return of soldiers on the streets

@user1495884620 from my back windows (4th floor remember!) I can also see our local airport - we have a clear view of the planes coming into land on the runway. The sky is usually so busy. Now we see one or two planes a day, and none leaving. It's very strange.