Agree OP - I live in a safe place but sometimes feel quite jumpy like my nerves are getting bad. Aggressive drivers, inconsiderate delivery vans parking anywhere they feel like and then just about banging your door down.
Roads are busy all the time. Even during the day on weekdays which used to be traditionally quiet. In fact everywhere I go no matter what time is so crowded. Does nobody work anymore.
Houses are fuller. I used to live in a new build in the nineties and a huge amount of the houses had 1 person living in them. This was 2 bed bungalows to 4 bed houses. Literally in my street I was surrounded by quietness. Today I also live in a new build estate (well 20 years old) and it is just so much louder. Plots are smaller and have less outlook and have more people in them. Each house has mostly 2 cars or more. Some have 4 cars. I mean a 4 bedroom house with 4 cars but only parking for 2 so 2 are strewn on the pavements making the place feel cluttered. Visitors have nowhere to park so park on the street. This never happened where I used to live. Houses had 1 car or 2 at most.
Christmas lights. In the nineties one neighbour used to decorate his house for charity and it was lovely. We would all go to the turning on of the lights. Now my street has flashing lights left, right and centre. In fact the houses without lights are like oddballs.
It's rush, rush, rush , loud, loud, loud, bright, bright, bright.
I jest not. I sometimes stay up during the night and read, surf the net, watch films etc just to enjoy the peace and quiet.
Then during the day I pop in ear plugs and go to bed. (retired so can do)
I feel quite anxious, jittery and find it hard to relax like I am overstimulated too much now. I used to love reading books. Going to bed early and reading for a few hours. Now replaced by reading mumsnet which I enjoy but adds to the stimulation. I've tried to go back to reading but my concentration is shot to pieces.
I honestly don't think humans are meant to be so crowded, rushed, overstimulated and it's making us all angry and a bit crazy.
Threw in constant wait times on the phone to get anything done and people are tearing their hair out.
Lack of gp's , dentists, potholes, food prices, electricity and gas prices and I think we are all just frustrated beyond belief.
I also think there is alot of 'trickery' about - scams which means we have to be guarded. Supermarkets shrinking food and thinking we don't notice when in fact we feel ripped off. Poor quality products that don't last or aren't right in the first place. No tradesman (or a nightmare to get one) or they do a shit job and you feel ripped off.
Even the dating world seems to have become much less civilised. I know I sound like an old grumpy woman (and I probably am) but it was lovely when men opened doors and brought flowers and walked on the outside of the pavement. 'Courting' and good manners seem to have disappeared to be replaced by violent, angry, some of it quite unbelievable porn which our young men are growing up with. ( Ex partners have told me things they have seen and I was quite horrified!) The nineties were a great sweet spot, women were pretty much going to uni and getting good jobs but dating was still nice and traditional. I wish I had appreciated it more.
People getting beheaded on the internet, animals getting tortured on the internet for 'fun'. Yes humans are very, very scary when I think about it. And so many children being murdered by their parents or parents boyfriend/girlfriend. I don't remember it being so constant in the news
My parents (both dead now) lived in a wee village in north scotland. When they moved there the sense of community was huge. That really died away over the years and the roads in and out of the village became so so busy. So even in the small villages you can't escape the madness. They used to have this great plumber who was super reliable, pleasant, good at his job and reasonably priced. He died, his son took over. He was unreliable, much more expensive, much more slapdash with the work and a couldn't care less attitude.
Sorry for depressing everyone!