I don't think this is an insane question. My take: #1 -- gated communities are way bigger than a bungalow court and are much easier to isolate from the communi

I don't think this is an insane question. My take: #1 -- gated communities are way bigger than a bungalow court and are much easier to isolate from the community around them. I think this correlation is a misapprehension. Here's a highly renovated example: https://seattle.curbed.com/2018/4/4/17200290/pine-street-cottage-for-sale-rsl https://seattle.curbed.com/2018/4/4/17200290/pine-street-cot... See how it faces the street like any other house, but there's a little private shared area in back? It's not self-contained like a gated community can be. #2 -- yep, there's the potential for abusive relationships. There is no rental model that works without strong protections for tenants and, yes, landlords. So that problem isn't inherent to rooming houses. However, the power relationship is usually tilted towards the party with more money and that's likely to be accentuated in this type of housing. You gotta be careful.