For what it’s worth - purely personally, I think the Location Bar changes are major upgrades, as it’s:
- Visually more intuitive for me to find where I can click to navigate and where I can click for a dropdown
- Easier to read the text when it’s not being edited, since it’s always higher contrast
- Looks prettier - objective fact, of course**
**OK, maybe don’t take my word on aesthetics 
I understand where folks are coming from with feedback in the other direction, just wanted to explain why it was a pleasant change for me.