Comment by DFHippie
5 hours ago
Though there is likely life throughout the galaxy, it's probably difficult for one sentient spacefaring race to find another habitable planet they'd be comfortable on, i.e., one with a similar atmosphere and mass. If it's a long way from your planet to another you'd care to set foot on, you're left with lots of space stations. But who wants to live in that precarity?
The main requirement is energy. From stars. Our system has a star, and thus is a resource to be tapped.
Without FTL you don’t get a single civilisation, so even if one civilisation doesn’t rant to expand evolution will mean the ones that do will do so.
So you’re left with “they haven’t tapped our star yet” or “nothing can reach us”