A HOA is what you make of it. At one point we had a group move into roles on our board and their opinions obviously did not line up with the majority of the homeowners. They tried to rig the following election but homeowners got organized without the board and EVERY SEAT in the following election was won by a write in candidate.

So one year out of ten was a bit bizarre. Since then we have been good and our board has tried to do their best to compromise between the priorities of neighbors with different opinions.

I have had property in a HOA and property that was not governed by a HOA. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

Dagny,
Thanks for posting the link.

There just aren't enough professional emergency responders to go around in a major event. Even if there are enough to go around they can't always get to the scene in time to be most effective.

Joplin is a good example; a huge number of emergency responders were there within hours of the event. Many of those who needed immediate assistance (think minutes instead of hours) were largely helped by friends and neighbors.