The American lawn gets a bad rap, and rightly so. The obsession with the perfect lawn has spread like a disease across the land, with homeowners obsessing over weed eradication, de-thatching, and diagonal mowing patterns. While working at a garden center I even had a customer ask about the blade width of one of our popular seed mixes. I got assurance from the manager that it did not exceed a quarter inch before relaying this information. (Some people have way too much time of their hands.)
Lawn eradication is a worthwhile endeavor, especially for suburban residents in ecological wastelands who are interested in fostering native pollinators and other wildlife, or growing edibles. It's a win-win proposition resulting in real support for native flora and fauna, and possibly herbs and veggies for you. But what about those of us who need open spaces around the house? We regularly move large animals, small tractors, wheelbarrows, etc, through the yard. Building permanent, wide paths to accommodate these activities doesn't make sense when turf works perfectly well with very little maintenance. Likewise adding paved patios or the like to replace grass in hang-out areas would be prohibitively expensive. In our case a lawn makes total sense.
In the humid eastern U.S. a lawn can be maintained with mowing only. Small yards can be taken care of with an old fashioned reel mower for those eschewing fossil fuels. Larger areas require a motorized machine, but trees and large shrubs that cast significant shade can really help cut down on mowing frequency.
Provided you live in an area with adequate rainfall, once you give up the notion that a lawn has to consist entirely of grass you're on your way to a beautiful carpet of green with less work and no need for chemical inputs. The belief that the ideal lawn must be weed-free most likely arose from aggressive propaganda from chemical manufacturers eager to sell more herbicides. Hordes of homeowners have bought into this belief and wage war against clover and dandelions each growing season.
On the other side you have zealots who are totally anti-lawn and claim you can't have a nice spread without loads of herbicides, fertilizers, and irrigation. While this is true in many areas, it doesn't apply everywhere.
The natural lawn is just so much more beautiful that the monoculture of quarter inch blades. There's less work and expense for the homeowner, and no risk of exposure to toxins for kids and pets. What's not to like?
We have moss and tiny sedges volunteering in our strreetside lawn strip. Love them!