I stopped putting any kind of chemical/treatment/additive/pesticide on my grass 4-5 years ago and have had pretty good luck taking care of it all manually (pulling weeds is hard work). Finally this spring the chinch bugs have won, so your examples for turf grass replacement are perfect. I expect to have a turf grass free yard in a week or two.

From my experience, if you never put any fertilizer, fungicide, or pesticide on a turf grass lawn, it would eventually succumb to the unstoppable forces of nature and cease to exist as a monoculture.