After living in a cul-de-sac in Orlando, I decided that I didn't ever want to go back to a regular street location again. I'm not saying that our neighbors in a cul-de-sac are automatically our best friends, but it's similar to sitting in a circle where conversation and bonding becomes a little bit easier than sitting in rows. It was likely that trips to the mailbox or walks around the block would turn into a neighborly greeting and/or a conversation. It's also easier and safer for your kids to play in front of your house, as well as safer from home invasions or robberies as more people see your house and could notice occurrences as well as being used to the typical activities of the occupants.
At our first house, I participated in the Homeowner's Association, first as a regular attendee, then as Secretary, and finally as the President. It was an interesting experience that provided me with an insight into leadership, organization, and neighborhood relationships that I wouldn't have had otherwise. However, being somewhat of a perfectionist, the little problems and difficulties that would continuously present themselves were quite burdensome. Some of them took numerous and repetitive phone calls to eventually inspire individuals to action, while others simply could only be solved with the slow elapsing of time (until the funds materialized, the season changed, or limitations expired). It got to the point that everything that was wrong with the development would cause me to feel somewhat stressed about it. My thinking was that if something was wrong and I could notice it, then surely others could too, and who would they think is to blame for it not getting remedied? Yours truly. Also, I couldn't simply make decisions about things without the approval of at least one other board member, in order to establish a majority. While this is a good idea in concept, it sometimes made it more difficult or impossible to implement ideas I had regarding the community. On the other hand, it also helped me to exercise persuasiveness, as I would need to not just bring ideas forward, but sell them as well.
In our current house in Sacramento, there isn't a HOA to consider participation in. My first thought was that it would cause the neighborhood to degrade significantly over time. In Orlando, without the imposing fines of and restrictions, people would easily let their yard or house slide toward slovenliness. Perhaps having a 25% rental rate in our development helped the odds of this happening significantly. From what I've seen here so far though, everyone is pretty considerate of each other and concerned with the upkeep of their property.