Interesting. This sounds exactly like my house & neighborhood but not climate/upkeep. I have to mow weekly 7-8 months of the year. I don't water much unless it'

Interesting. This sounds exactly like my house & neighborhood but not climate/upkeep. I have to mow weekly 7-8 months of the year. I don't water much unless it's over 100F out and hasn't rained in a week (typical in June-August). I basically do the minimum to keep it alive. I keep mowing in place in the winter because it's so short and they mulch the leaves (they continue falling most of the winter here because it's a mild winter) which fertilize and keeps things tidy, and it probably needs mowing every 2-3 weeks anyways. Some grasses here go dormant, mine always grows unless it's <40F (which is seldom here even in winter). I don't care if a patch dies or whatever, it will fill back in in a few weeks. Weeds can't pop up because it's constantly being cut, etc. Since it's a weekly chore, and hot/long summer, I outsource the mowing. If it was 3-4 times a year I would totally DIY. I've lived in the places like your parents neighborhood. My neighbor a couple doors down had a flawless lawn. But he also had a guy come over every day for ~4 hours to piddle around in the yard, hedges, trimming things, pool; he was a full stack grounds keeper. Imagine what that cost, lol.