I don't know about the US all that much, but here in Canuck land, we generally don't have HOAs (incredibly rare), and the closest thing would be condo associati

I don't know about the US all that much, but here in Canuck land, we generally don't have HOAs (incredibly rare), and the closest thing would be condo associations, which make sense, for there is a shared "common cost" involved in a condo building. For detached housing, it's all the city and bylaws. Bylaws might cover common nuisance laws, such as having a bunch of rusted cars on the lawn, or having your lawn covered in dog feces. Both of these are often covered under pollution, if you live in a rural area on a well, dog shit runoff can contaminate a well. And rusting cars often have old gas and oil and other contaminants, same logic. But realistically, these laws are also passed because "unsightly". One difference between an HOA and a city government, is at least in Canada democracy is involved. Especially smaller city governments. I've noticed larger municipal governments aren't as democratic, just due to the size and scope of things. For example, knowing your mayor on a first name basis, in a municipality the size of <10k people, is different than a mayor of a 1M+ city. In the smaller case, you often have the mayor's cell phone number and email, and your councillor's, and you just.. you know, talk to them.