That is the question!
HOA, or Home Owner's Associations are the subject of some debate. They are either a useful body to help maintain the value of homes within the subjected neighborhood, or they are a bunch of nosy, busy-bodies that need to remove their noses from everyone's business.
The purpose of a HOA is to provide uniformity for the community, make sure that homes are maintained, and administrate the rules of the community. But, just as they can help to insure that the people next door don't paint their house lime green with orange trim, they might also prevent one from parking a <gasp> pick-up truck <gasp> at your house. It all depends on the rules of the community.
There is certainly a trade-off. As an automotive enthusiast, and one that likes to do his own wrenching on occasion, I would opt to NOT live in a subdivision with an active HOA. But, I have friends and clients that are in the same hobby, but have chosen HOA neighborhoods. Others have gone as far as to restrict their searches to homes not in a subdivision at all.
The bottom line is that there isn't a simple answer, and it can depend upon one's personality, and how much of a "disturbance" one might make... As well as the individual community's rules. But, remember that if one is looking in a subdivision, one needs to know if there is a Home Owner's Association.
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In Arizona we tend to have a lot of HOA communities. It is interesting to note that the ones where there is not an HOA, they seem not to always be the best maintained. So despite some flaws of HOA communities, it seems, here at least, that the HOA ones are better maintained in general.
B&C - We have mostly HOA communities here (it seems) and most are well maintained... but it comes down to the residents. However, I've had a few clients that had work vans and had problems parking at their own house.