that's probably in areas where such a yard is the only safe space for wildlife and people don't live with nature as a daily part of their lives.

I think this is the case. In urban areas you get the rats and such nesting directly in people's homes because there's nowhere else for them to be, thanks to the absolute miles of pavement. When I've lived in more rural areas you would see a lot of animals all the time, but everyone was pretty much minding their own business. I think habitat destruction is the real problem.

I don't think that's the case, but trees in general are sadly not common in American landscaping, at least in my experience with urban areas. You tend to see newer (90's+) homes with very small trees that suggest the idea of nature without providing any shade or other benefits. I keep hearing about people buying older houses with big lovely trees and having them immediately cut down because it's disturbing the driveway or they're afraid of it falling in a storm. I think insurance costs may have something to do with these concerns, but it's really sad regardless.

In California they're constantly giving out these little saplings that will grow into very functional and deep-rooted shade trees, but no one wants them because they aren't pretty and drop needles.

Dropped fruit all over the ground really encourages rats though.

My mum got a house super cheap when I was young because it had a "rat problem" it also had a peach tree in the back yard that the owner didnt pick up after. We removed literal garbage bags of peach pits from the roof space and crawl spaces of that house and garage.

Chopped the peach tree down (it wasnt a healthy tree anyway) and the problem basically disappeared in days.