Not everyone love lawns though, there's even an entire subreddit dedicated to hating them: https://www.reddit.com/r/fucklawns/
Plus, the obsession some people have with mowing their lawn - I've got a particular neighbour who does it daily in the summer, for two hours I've got a constant engine roar in my ear.
I prefer having a vegetable garden that just plain grass, it's way more rewarding.
When you prefer a better environment, but said better environment means having to at least leave the state... yeah, strong feelings seem warranted to me.