Comment by saltcured

There are layers to that suburban setting and I wonder which ones you imagine.

There actually used to be this "empty suburb" feeling at many times per day when a typical bedroom community had sent its kids to school and parent to work. Particularly when they were not wealthy enough to have paid laborers around doing things during their work day. If anything, they got busier since COVID as people have more varied schedules.

Then there is the new but incomplete development, e.g. with graded lots and some subset of streets and walkways. If work is suspended for some reason, it may be decorated with idled earth movers, piles of building materials, or partial foundations or framing.

Or it might turn into the next type, which is an aborted subdivision build or after a severe wildfire, which is basically a moonscape of graded lots with no buildings nor vegetation.

Then there are the abandoned neighborhoods that were once vibrant. Old, decrepit buildings, and wild vegetation, e.g. around dead industrial towns.