Honestly, communes are a great idea. And I think communal living and working should be more common. But utopian communes tend to shake out in one of three ways that don't appeal to most people.

First, they end up religious. Of course, there are the death cults. But better examples might be things like Amish villiages, or jesuit or buddhist monasteries. And if you aren't religious, these probably won't appeal to you.

Next are the utopian communes. These tend to be started by overly optimistic young people and hippies with more drugs than sense. They tend to self destruct due to personal conflicts and free rider problems.

Finally, there are the practical communes. These are the ones which survived their utopian phase by learning about having strong boundaries and excluding free riders. However, as the years go on and the utopian energy fades, these communes often end up populated by those who are competent but generally have a dim view of society and their ability to integrate into it. This lack of optimism and desire to chase opportunity leads to these communes being quite poor. And so they limp along on the edge of survival, churning through optimistic young people who come each year, work for the season, and then become disillusioned with the lifestyle. Occasionally one person arrives who threads the needle of competent but disillusioned, and with these infusions the commune can limp a little longer.

The fact is, if you find a group of people who are both optimistic and competent, they will probably also not feel the need to formally make resource or labor sharing agreements, nor to cloister themselves from the world. They will simply function as informal groups of friends who may lend each other help, live together, or start businesses together.