I think macros can still be used for developing simple systems but it comes at a more difficult development cost. Unless you're used to macros, they're weird to write and there aren't many places to learn about macro design patterns (On LISP and LOL are good IMHO). There are examples of major projects that use macros effectively though. Look at core.logic, om.next, core.async, or many other large cljs projects.

If knowledge of how to use macros was better, I think some of the macro FUD would go away. If you're not using macros then you might as well not use a LISP. I'd agree though that using macros improperly leads to all kinds of problems.