Yeah but in certain circles, those non-icing-heavy websites might actually signal greater authenticity. I LOVE college professor websites that are full of great technical info, but look like they've not been designed at all.
One thing many designers and programmers alike struggle with are who their circle/users are and what they want. The problem, if it is a problem, with bootstrap is that it makes everything look the same. It's both smart and lazy from a web-dev's pov.
At first I was a bit annoyed and confused but then I actually liked it, the more I had to get creative with CSS because although you can reinterpret a subreddit in 1000 different ways, they all "feel" the same.
I mean, I basically just gave an elevator pitch for CSS but I suppose my point is that Reddit works well as it is. You might have to do a bit of thinking outside the box but some nice designs are possible.
If you need anything more than that, chances are your design is a bit too over the top and should be simplified.