We're in a HOA in Central Texas, and it's a relatively new housing area (2016-2020), so all of the lawns (Bermuda grass) were planted by the builder. Most people attempted to keep the lawns looking decent, but I wonder how long that will last. I'm starting to see a lot of stressed out lawns, many beginning to have weeds overtake sections and brown spots in others.
It hasn't helped that we're under restricted outdoor watering (now once a week) due to lack of rainfall. It also doesn't help that the houses were built on mainly limestone (and some clay), so the builder just threw a few inches of topsoil in the yards to plant the Bermuda. There is little soil under the grass to hold the roots, moisture, and nutrients.
It takes a lot of effort and money to keep the lawns looking decent in our neighborhood. No one here in the 120+ housing area has a showcase lawn. The model did, as it had something like fescue being watered daily, but the model has been sold and the lawn has died during remodeling to get it ready for the new owners (tear out office in the garage, add a driveway, etc.).
If we were back in California, we could kill the lawn, cover it with mulch/pebbles/rock, and plant shrubs instead. No one would bat an eye, and this was in a nice area of Silicon Valley. We also didn't have a HOA. Most of that area doesn't. I don't think we can get away with that here. You certainly don't want bare ground here. The slope of the properties along with the random thunderstorms (when they happen) would wash out the dirt into mud all over the neighborhood.