Lamenting the loss of the past

More so Ray than myself, but we both pined for the smaller and quieter Melbourne, with one third of its 5,000,000 plus present population. Covid lockdowns gave us a taste of a very quiet Melbourne, and we decided perhaps we didn't want to turn back the clocks to a quieter Melbourne. But was it so quiet in our younger years? In my memory, traffic was so free flowing but was it? Generally yes, but clearly there were congested areas. 

Perhaps Marine Parade, St Kilda in the early 70s was worse than it now is, with its current two lanes and bike lanes in both directions. It's an interesting photo. The single storey building to the left has gone, and I believe every building to the right has gone. No loss at all.

And perhaps Nepean Highway in Rosebud was not always so quiet. But nowadays a freeway connecting to a major road to the east of Rosebud is in place, which has fixed the traffic problem on the beach road which has not fixed the problem on the beach road and it is worse than ever.