As a non-user of Chrome, I have the same experience browsing on Chrome only/optimized websites that I had when browsing IE only/optimized websites 15 years ago.
As a web developer, I, too, have had moments fixing a Safari bug that reminded me of dealing with IE in the past. But only passing moments, and I don’t blame Safari.
Supporting multiple browsers is a uniquely annoying aspect of web development, and almost every developer uses Chrome for development (I’m a Safari user and it’s kind of a running gag at work). This means that for most developers, Safari is the main browser they have to support that isn’t the one they use for development, which is a recipe for resentment.
Also, I bristle at this comparison a bit because Safari is wayyyyy better than IE ever was about adopting (and helping to draft) standards. They’re slower than the Chrome team and adopting new standards, but that’s because Alphabet and Apple’s business models are different, not because it’s an inherently good idea to adopt every new standard immediately (especially when many are focused on turning the web into a crappy replacement for native app platforms).
As someone who does not primarily do web development... no. No I do not :). I am trying to get it to do what I want in Chrome and I find I hate it only slightly less than older CSS.
Anecdotally, friends have told me I shouldn't use grid, I should use flexbox instead.
Clearly I'm not meant to be a web developer. Some people like it, I gather.
Gap support in Safari is only there since April 2021 (last month) and because the usage is still close to zero you can't use it. https://caniuse.com/?search=gap