I'll tie in material from other RP's if it's useful and relevant to the current RP, so in a sense you do get repetitions of names and places, and it's easier to use that material than reinvent the wheel. But it's not deliberate universe building, it's more that if things fit together, it gets thrown in there.

So if I had an RP in the past with a city setting and I need a city and it fits the purpose of the current RP, then I find the notes and use 'em.