Hi Northern,
Yes, the residents were almost entirely single people. There were also some individuals that just stayed briefly then moved on. Of course everyone had to be invited or cleared through the housing board. This was a lot different than the typical communal setting of families homesteading, which I experienced in the 70s.
As for food... ever try dumpstering? There is currently enough planned obsolescence built in to food delivery systems (grocery stores) to feed large quantities of people. While it's true that a major catastrophy would break the supply chain, current supplies are abundant. Short of a truly massive disturbance, the dumpsters will continue to be stocked
A friend of mine is getting pretty deep into urban growing/hydroponics, but that does require an initial investment. Would like to see that explored more.
Also, being single and having purged the usual societal attachments, my life attitude is more like living in a beach town that gets blown away every 3 years. That is, do not possess anything you cannot walk away from. This allows me to not worry as much (at all?) about 'big future disasters' as I am confident in my ability to move during those situations.
As a child i lived in the middle-of-nowhere countryside and still think it is a great place to be a kid. However, I have been looking for a communal living situation because (in part) my life became isolating. So, for me, the inner city setting is preferred.