"The number of people living in neighborhoods, condo buildings or cooperatives run by owners or members has mushroomed, from about 2 million nationwide in 1970 to more than 54 million now…Favored by developers and local governments, community associations are also popular among home-buyers because they usually help keep up the neighborhood. But they can be nightmares for the unwary, who learn the hard way that their homes are not their castles. And politics in homeowner or condo groups can sometimes make the former Soviet Union seem democratic."
