A few major things have changed in the intervening time that have worsened the problem. First, the suburbs have expanded, greatly. This means they're farther o

A few major things have changed in the intervening time that have worsened the problem. First, the suburbs have expanded, greatly. This means they're farther out in the periphery on average, there are far more highways, roads, and parking structures needed to support them (with far more lanes and traffic), and it's consequently more difficult and dangerous to go places on your own, especially without a car, in any place that is in or connected to suburban developments. For reference, when I was going to elementary school in the late 2000s, my school was half a mile away on the other side of a five lane highway that had no sidewalk on the other side. It wasn't until later that a pedestrian/bike accessible trail was put in to allow access to getting downtown and even then it would still take 30-40 minutes walking or 10-15 minutes cycling and it sucked the whole time. And this was a less exurban development than many of the ones that have sprung up in the last decade. Secondly, perhaps in part as a reasonable reaction to the first and in part as an unreasonable reaction to fearmongering, parents are unwilling to let their kids venture out on their own without supervision, and even police each other, by calling the actual police on parents who let their kids travel alone. Thirdly, tech has just gotten better, in ways that make it higher quality and in ways that make it addictive. Browsing the internet and playing vidya is a better value proposition these days in many suburbs than going outside to navigate asphalt and private lawns as far as the eye can see.