> I’m skeptical that there’s anything special about high trust communities other than a higher baseline of morale

Strictly speaking I'd agree with you -- but I would consider a higher baseline of morale to be itself quite special! Especially when it is shared amongst the entire community.

Reposting what I said earlier, because I'm interested in this topic.

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.

Pretty much any small town anywhere in the world will be high(er) trust. You only need to drive an hour outside of a big city to find the comparison you need. When I travel, I am only cautious inside big cities. As soon as I am in a smaller town or countryside, I worry much, much less about crime or scams.

Japan is a classic example. You can drop your wallet there and someone will send it to you with all the cash intact. It makes you realize how much overhead it causes when you need to guard against cheaters and thieves.