The worst suburban little Eichmann's given the tiniest and most banal sliver of power. It's very much a legitimate example of "people who seek power shouldn't have it".

The problem, for the most part, isn't community organization. it's the goals, structures, and cultures behind HOAs. Since no normal person whats to be involved in that bullshit often the most surburban brained next door nazi hypermayos end up in charge. Suburbanites already largely despise themselves, their neighbors, and humanity in general and that alienation and is fully in effect in the petty tyranny of the HOA.

The goal of the HOA is not social welfare or community benefit, but rather one monomaniacal drive; PROPERTY VALUES PROPERTY VALUES PROPERTY VALUES

The purpose, for most HOAs, is not the improve and connect the community, but rather to enforce rigid and brutal conformity to what they think will best enhance the "value of their investments". Any expression of individuality, lack of conformity, or frankly use of the home as a home is brutally suppressed. Whether it's painting your house a cool color, having vegetables in your front lawn, or allowing your children to leave toys in the lawn, it will be suppressed without mercy. Having family stay over? Two many cars in the driveway, the HOA will issue threats and punishment. Lawn dying out because you don't give a shit about green concrete, or because you can't afford, wether in time or money, to poison the earth with fertilizer, expend precious water, and meticulously measure your grass to make sure it is exactly one inch tall? Punishment.

It's basically a disciplinary structure imposed on a neighborhood to ensure that the capitalist model and goals of the suburbs are enforced and cannot be deviated from.

Anecdote; I had a neighbor a long time ago who, for whatever reason, wasn't part of the HOA. He loved filling his yard with tacky lawn decorations, flags, parking his and his kids cars in the driveway, leaving his trashcan visible. Just any damn thing that would make the micronazis of the HOA's heads combust. A true American.

I don’t even want to visit someone in a detached housing HOA, nevermind live in one.

idk there are situations where you want an organization to do long term collective maintenance that the individual property owners arent very good about planning or paying for on their own. Condos especially, someone absolutely has to maintain the roof, foundation, exterior of the building, any building amenities, etc

Know a guy that lived in a HOA for a few years that made him take down his bird feeders. They were in the back yard. The neighbors complained there were too many birds and they were shitting everywhere.

HOA's are pretty much always bigoted little tyrants getting high off of telling people how tall their grass should be

So yeah, they're bad

Not always. American ones seem to be especially bad when you combine American individualism with American materialism and paranoia.

i think the problem is some people care a lot about being involved or in power with it, and most members want nothing to do with it

HOAs suck. If you're forced into one you should sneakily take it over.