Backpacker, my apologies if I was wrong, or have made incorrect assumptions about O/P's environment. Round here, controlled a/d's are all in class C, and I do seem to remember that this means ALL traffic is controlled and hence separated. But I might well be wrong, as I am not supposed to enter controlled airspace anyway I can't claim much authority on the subject.
[[edit: checked my old course notes and must admit I got it wrong. Even in class C, VFR traffic are separated from IFR traffic but not from other VFR traffic; they do receive traffic information and can request traffic avoidance advice. Apologies!]]
Needless to say I heartily agree with all your other points.