I'm not against HOAs if that's what you've signed up for, but the neighborhood I currently live in doesn't have one. The homes run from $120-200. There are a few poorly kept lawns and some questionable fencing (although if you let your grass or branches grow to crazy lengths you hear from the city) but other than that I'm pretty comfortable with the value of my home. I'm not expecting to attract anyone looking to drop $250-$300K when I sell my home... so I don't think our potential buyers will be the types to care if there's a house a block away with half a yard of mud and some untrimmed hedges, or (god forbid) a basketball goal in their driveway.
I'm guessing a lot of Dallas neighborhoods don't have HOAs... In the Lakewood area you have some neighborhoods with $600K homes two blocks away from $100K homes and the upkeep varies greatly from block to block.