I live on the west coast of the US. When we say 'change the locks' we don't really mean changing out the physical locks for new ones. We mean having them re-k

I live on the west coast of the US. When we say 'change the locks' we don't really mean changing out the physical locks for new ones. We mean having them re-keyed. It's not very expensive, and contrary to your anecdote, there are locksmiths everywhere here. A lot of them have no storefront, they are entirely mobile (and a fair bit of the time, unmarked vans). Storefronts still exist, but much of the regular interaction consumers have with keys these days is easily handled at the local home improvement stores.