The best lawn is one that serves a purpose for a reasonably sized group of people. Feeling or being compelled to maintain something you don't want, that's of no value to you, or nature, is the worst part of lawn culture to me. Nobody should be expected to have a lawn they don't want, if you have a better use for the space, do that instead if you want.

Sounds like their lawn is at least good for their community. Maybe it's suboptimal urban planning, but that's far less bad than wanton waste of resources in my book.