I'm interested in discussion around "high trust societies" and I look for clues because I want to live in one.

Here is just an example of one: Moving from Brooklyn to a small surbuban town:

- very few lock their bikes at the local schools, or "town center". Bikes aren't stolen and kids don't worry about it.

- "town center" has umbrellas out for public use, people use them and put them back.

- People generally don't lock front doors, or don't worry if they aren't.

- If there are problems, people call police, they show up quick [non emergency] and they sort out the problem.

- People happy to pay taxes and they know where it goes

I can go on... these are just examples I've seen.

It sounds like trust is important when people can be held accountable. And it's hard to be held accountable when you're just an anonymous person in a sea of hundreds of thousands or millions.

In my case, it's not just being held accountable. It's that people know each other and you are just stealing from your neighbor. Not many want to do that.