Your experience is the other end of the spectrum.... good on y’all for taking care of it!
In my neighborhood of 100 houses, there’s no mandatory HOA (and the way things got set up back when the houses were built, there’s no way to make it mandatory).
There’s a voluntary $20 a year for a gardener to come and trim the shrubs at the corner of the residential street and the larger street.
Every January the unofficial HOA guy puts flyers out announcing a cleanup day; the residents go out and do a leaves etc cleanup in that entry corner.
A rolling group of 30 households paying $20 each is enough to cover the upkeep.
Simple and no fuss no muss.
My condo in Dalton, GA has a $110 per month fee, with which all insurance on buildings, on the pool and clubhouse, and all water and sewer utilities are paid. The maintenance on the grounds and streets around the condos never stops, all paid out of the fees.