Common Knowledge

Why is it that so few people seem to know the simplest things about the town, or even the neighborhood in which they live? I've traveled to many places, and it is rare to find even one person who can tell me the town's approximate population, the name of a native tree or flower, the elevation, weather patterns, or even the name of a river that runs through the town.  One would think this kind of information would be common knowledge to those living there.
 
One shopkeeper couldn’t understand why I wanted to know such trivial stuff, and said no one he knew really cared about that kind of thing, that there were far more important things to think about, that I was the only person who had ever asked for that information, and that maybe I should just go buy a book.  I left his shop empty handed, both in knowledge and goods.
 
I did run into a taxi driver once that was a veritable storehouse of data about the area I was visiting.  He answered every question in detail, proudly volunteered fascinating details and did it with the aplomb of a tour guide describing his domain.  He received a very large tip.