I suspect that this is due to a human psychological flaw based in living in the present.
Consider this: We all think, right now, that this time is the most important time that has ever happened in history. Right?
Consider this also: Everyone has always thought that about their own moment in time. Every time in history has been considered to be the most important moment in time.
Consider this a bit more: Think about yourself in ten years time - you would be thinking your time then as being the most important time. People in the future will think their own time as the most important.
We can either assume two things from this: 1) That time increases the importance, value and crucialness of the present continually from when humans begun until the infinite future. or 2) that we have a flaw in our thinking.
When I've brought this up in this forum, people will defend today. They will say that today really is the most important, and bring up examples from technology etc. They will demonstrate their bias of living in the present day. Think about risk - is today more or less risky in terms of nuclear war than during the Cuban missile crisis? Is today more or less risky for your family in terms of disease and quality of life? We are biased, and it's in our very brains. We want to defend our faulty perceptions of reality, as they are literally our reality. But it's not the truth of the matter, and it's not logical. So I expect you to defend the current day.
The article touched on this - in terms of crime, it's much better than it has been. It's easy to say, but we don't feel or believe this. It must be wrong, right? Perhaps it always has felt wrong.
Another flaw about memory - which is probably related. We don't tend to remember ourselves being as scared or anxious in this kind of daily effect, in the past. Thus the past feels better through our memories.
I've studied the fear of crime. This is perceptions compared with the actual risks and actual levels of crime. One way to ask people about how fearful is to consult their memory - "how many times in the last week, when walking down the high street, did you see something that made you fearful". This is a better question than "do you think the high street is more dangerous these days?".
So, in conclusion - we are biased to our present days. We have trouble comparing what we felt like in the past with the time now. We cannot easily extrapolate how we think and feel about today with the future. We are not really living in the age of fear, we just are currently feeling that we do. Indeed, we always think and feel that we are. We need to recognize our perceptions of reality shape our realities.