I live next door to my mum. We both live in company-provided housing, right behind the office. Our commute is approximately 30 seconds, cuz to get to work, we go out our doors, down a hallway, down some steps, through our back yard, through a gate, through the office's back yard, down a couple steps, and BAM we're at work. There are advantages and disadvantages to this, but as laid back as my mum is I have no problem at all living next door.
As for public transport, there's pretty much none here. Hence the two cars I have.