It's a debate for sure. I understand the purpose and the good intentions of an HOA but my experience with them was the bad Larry brought up. Maybe I'm the problem neighbor....lol

Anyway, mine did not live up to their end of the deal. Board decided to stop payment (I was not on the board). The whole neighborhood got threatened and again the HOA won and still got their money without fixing the common areas and perimeter fencing.
After several stand-offs and personal arguments over adding a fence for my dogs and repairing the deck we were able to work it out just seemed to be a hassle for what they did not do.
I now live in the rural setting and with good neighbors we all have nice upkept places but I'm awaiting the "1 bad apple". However, with property values being doubled in the last 5 years it has stopped house building in my part of Ohio. This is much better for us since we have the freedom to do as we please. I was able to build my shop and keep everything under roof where the HOA wouldn't even allow a plastic outdoor shed to house my push mower.