You're referring to some imaginary ideal-type version of Italy that I don't recognise. I've been going to Italy for years and speak the language fluently. Disclaimer: I mainly go to Rome and the South. I don't know the North at all.
There's plenty of violence on a typical out in Rome: gypsies trying to steal or scam, unemployed hooligans getting rowdy at the club. Lots of illegal immigrants fucking shit up; alongside Greece and Spain it's one of the major entry points for illegals into Europe.
No street crime? Spend some time in Napoli and report back.
It's sad because there's a lot about Italy that I love. But I love it in spite of its shortcomings.
There are a lot of hot, feminine girls, but the guys in the younger generation are becoming increasingly emasculated (even if they're still charismatic, friendly and cool). Italy has the biggest number of big groups of guys sticking together and not talking to girls that out of anywhere I've been. A lot of the guys act beta even if they're very charismatic; it may be because of the strong family values that they're not yet being heavily penalised for it by their women. I've found it hard to crack same night lays with local girls, so they're either more conservative or I've been playing it wrong. My sense is that they do fuck fast and that I just haven't cracked it yet.
Feminist ideology is spreading there like wildfire. There's a BIG contingent of busted looking girls too. Italian women don't age well and start piling on the pounds in their late twenties. On my last couple of trips I've noticed they're getting chubbier too even at a very young age. Sun exposure messes up their skin. You don't know shit about entitled attitudes until you've met bitchy Italian women! Attitudes much closer to American women than what you get from Eastern Europeans. If you don't think media there is causing bad attitudes just tune into a Mediaset channel entertainment show on a weekend night.
You're right that it's very family oriented, and I love that you see families dining out together and strolling around town, even after midnight.
You point out that older people are respected, but that's also a big part of what's destroying the economy there. It's a gerontocracy where people are promoted based on seniority. That's one reason all the bright young people are leaving. The state is weak too. That probably sounds great to small-government fetishists, but when it means that the government can't push through reforms needed to reassure investors and can't collect the taxes it needs to keep things ticking along it becomes a major problem.
People are generally cultured and well-read, education is good and mostly free (private school is mostly for kids that couldn't hack it in public school), and there's a strong emphasis on Classics. They're friendly and chatty, which I like. The template for my early day game was the typical friendly Italian who strikes up a conversation with you on the train.
It really saddens me to see corrupt politicians fucking things up for the country, but I hope they will pull through. It used to be one of the greatest industrial economies, and it's still got a bigger GDP than Russia.
I would probably move there too if not for the economic problems and corruption.
My trip Rome report might be of interest:
http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-5657.html
That ended up being quite long, now I gotta think about where I would most like to live...