In some areas of the US there is very little choice about living in an HOA, simply because they have been formed to cover almost all available properties. (Not one single HOA but multiple HOAs that encompass the entire residential areas). If your company/organization moves you to a large metropolitan area, you might have no other choice, except to move there or stay where you are and be out of a job.
In 2000 I was "moved" to the DC metropolitan area. There was no available housing except for established communities with HOAs. I was forced to either buy a home within an HOA or commute 100+ milies each direction. (Even the new construction had been included into nearby HOAs.)
I suffered through their BS for four years, couldn't put flowers around my own tree or put flower boxes on my windows since no one else had them. We weren't even allowed to hang laundry on a clothes line! Fortunately, a privacy fence already existed around the back yard and I was able "hide" my seven dishes, including a small BUD. However, I couldn't even park my own RV in the driveway or in front of the house, even to pack it when I retired, sold the house and left the area.
Sometimes you get rewarded for the pain and suffering. I sold the house for TWICE the amount I had paid for it four years earlier, simply because of the demand for housing was greater than the supply!