Yes, that is one comment that really stuck out for me, too, since I have read, listened to, and seen (YouTube) pretty much the opposite. Might be a (highly?) localized "phenomenon", due to university campus closeness and local drivers' awareness.
There's a difference between a walkable neighborhood and cars that look out for pedestrians. There are a lot of US neighborhoods where you wouldn't particularly want to walk through them since they're suburban wastelands, but cars will respect you if you do.