Not necessarily. I know a guy who lives in a rural area and still somehow managed to find a house with an HOA, because he wanted access to shared amenities. Beyond that, HOA rules would ideally be like an agreement that I won’t be a bad neighbor to you if you won’t be a bad neighbor to me. It does seem like HOA boards attract petty people, but only the very worst will get in the news while the normal ones quietly do their thing.
(Also, it appears that the lemonade stand in the article wasn’t actually violating the HOA rules.)