Like anything, it depends on where you were.
I grew up in the 1950s, in Southern California; we lived a mile from the beach. Back then there was still a lot of open space; bean fields, canyons, scrub brush, etc. We hunted jackrabbits, caught countless lizards in the fields, tadpoles and frogs too numerous to count; we played hide-and-go-seek, statue maker, capture the flag, and in the summer we were outside from dawn to dark. We’d chase after the Helms Bakery truck in hopes of getting a free donut, and we tried the same with the Good Humor truck for an ice cream, but without success (the old geezer who drove the truck would pop out a dime from the coin changer on his belt and hold it up to us, saying “One thin dime, one-tenth of a dollar, and it’s yours!”). We were Boomers, and there were kids EVERYWHERE!
I loved it.
We all tend to look back on the days of our youth with some nostalgia, but you are right. I grew up in Long Beach and it was paradise for a kid back then. Rode bikes everywhere, went trick or treating without adult supervision and it was safe.
There were poor neighborhoods but there weren’t dangerous neighborhoods.
I’m glad I got the gift of getting to experience it.
My wife and I grew up in different small towns in the 60’s.
Both of our parents came from very small towns also and they grew up in the 40’s.
Very different world back then.