I mean, where I live, there are no HOAs, but the city council instead mandates those kinds of things via zoning rules.

I think I still prefer that to HOAs, because - The city is pretty good at taking care of public facilities - I only pay city tax, not city tax and HOA fees - The city has better things to do than walk around neighborhoods looking for violations, so enforcement is pretty lax - The city government is subject to checks and balances