What were the early 2000s really like?

I’m an older Gen Z and I of course have rose-tinted glasses of the time. I feel like the music was more creative, places had more people and community (especially skate parks, malls, and recreation centers). Video games were actually fun. It felt happy, but I was a young kid.

A lot of Gen Z is basking in nostalgia now, as is normal for any generation. Can any millennials give me a more unbiased and grown up outlook on what the early 2000s were like? The good, the bad, what things have improved now compared to then? Thank you