In the "the times, they are a'changing" category -
During the 2000's, up to maybe 2012-2014, I'd go to downtown Boise on Saturday nights right in that very same 7 block area - Main Street to Idaho, from 5th to 12th Street. It was a lively place with lots to do. Maybe see a concert or a band at a local bar and come out at midnight or 1:00 AM, then walk 5-6 blocks through a more deserted part of the area to my car parked on the street without giving my safety a second thought or even a first thought.
Haven't done that in a while and do not intend to start again.
On F bombs and cops, when I was sixteen back in the 1960's I rode along with a cop on patrol as part of the Ft. Lauderdale Police Youth Auxiliary. At 16 I'd certainly heard the F word but only rarely, in my world it was still the Granddaddy of all cuss words.
I heard it used more during the four hours I rode with that cop than probably my whole life up to that point. He used it on a 6 year old kid, a 10-11 year old kid, some middle aged guy in a business suit who made the grave error of not quite completely coming to a full stop at a stop sign (the cop almost never completely stopped at them), just about everybody he interacted with. It would take three more years and joining the Army before I heard it in such profusion again.
