This is going off-topic and I don't really expect this post to resonate with anyone or to even be well received or get any replies, but nonetheless I find this interesting and want to put this out there.
In my travels I've found that how friendly people are with strangers varies greatly from culture to culture. In Malta we're very mindful of our own business. We don't start conversations with strangers unless we absolutely have to. There is this air of untrust and skepticism towards strangers. And yet the ironic joke we repeat over here is that everybody knows everybody. This joke rings so true insofar as, if you come across someone you don't know, you are guaranteed to at least know someone that does know that person. Despite this level of untrust we treat strangers with, the crime rates in Malta are crazy low, and it rings true with the Maltese people, as xenophobic as it shows us as a people to be, that a large majority of crimes are caused moreso by foreigners than by locals. It pains me to back this sentiment up, but Christian morality values really do run deep over here. The Maltese people generally mean well despite how hostile they treat strangers. And they know this too - in some parts of Gozo, people still leave their keys in their parked cars. their garages fully open, their bicycles lying on the sidewalk unchained. I find this contrast really interesting.
Furthermore, some cities/states and their people have shown themselves to behave differently. Of the places I've been, Manchester and Sicily spring up as being some of the friendliest people I've come across. When I first went to these places, it was jarring and almost unsettling how friendly these people were. But it's really interesting just how easily they'll greet strangers on the street as if they've known them forever. As for crime rates I can't be fair in commenting inasfar as I haven't done my research well. I know that, last time I checked, Manchester has the second highest crime rate in England. but it isn't fair of me to make this comparison as this includes Greater Manchester, and I've only spent time in central Manchester.
This post didn't really go anywhere so much as it was just me expressing a sentiment. I guess the thing to take away from it is that the willingness to talk to strangers is also a very cultural thing inasmuch as it is a personal trait in the individual.