When I was a kid one of our neighbors was restoring an old WWII trainer aircraft. He even started it up a few times (that was a real kick !!). I became a private pilot as soon as I could afford it.
Another neighbor worked in construction and hired and trained several of the kids on our block, (he used to park the trucks in the back yard).
Another neighbor was a special effects self-employed guy who had a work shop in the back yard, my buddy growing up used to spend a lot of time there, now he is an award winning special effects Supervisor/Coordinator. For a lot of A list movies.
I doubt any of that would have ever happened growing up in a HOA scrubbed neighborhood,