Also, Swing is just there, so for a simple app you don’t need to figure out dependencies or how to fit JavaFX into maven/gradle.
A single main dependency (org.openjfx/javafx-control) and a plugin (org.openjfx/javafx-maven-plugin) and you're off to the races. I don't install JFX into the JDK at all (not even sure, honestly, if that's still a thing).
I have more problems with JDK 9 modules (which modern JavaFX seems to support, but good luck with much of anything else of size).
Since I am pretty much awful at GUI programming, I've made a lot more progress with FX on my home projects than Swing. It's no panacea, but it's been working for me.
The pain of JavaFX becomes apparent at deployment time. Installing in a small closed ecosystem is fine. Mass market with all the variance. Ugh.
I struggle with the same thing. jDeploy solves one half of that (deploying javafx is no longer a struggle). I think there is still room to make creating new projects simpler.