[bombcar]

You can have quite a close knit community in single family homes - I've known and been parts of neighborhoods where everyone wandered into everyone's house, but you'd never know that looking at the plats.

Communal areas like a shared kitchen immediately fall to the tragedy of the commons, unless there's a HOA or similar that directly pays someone to maintain it.

[geverett]

I've lived in community for 10 years in a variety of different houses/complexes (including ones where I've had my own apartment and there's been a communal kitchen). We've almost never had issues with cleanliness. It really depends on who you live with!