Hardcourt or Lawn? Not tennis, but pitches

Help me out here folks, but what is the attraction to hardstanding pitches? other than the usefulness (they're levelish and good in wet weather) I can't see the attraction of sitting on loose rubble when I could be relaxing on a beautiful lawn. I get that we're all different, choice is good and each to their own etc but the photo of the new Stonehaven site in this months mag looks like a hospital car park yet folks over on the thread for the new site are raving about it! So I'm appealing to all fans of the hardstuff, and lovers of the lush green to explain why they choose one over the other. Why do I care? Because new sites like Stonehaven and Bridlington are 100% hardstanding. That can't be good for the environment or for choice as it excludes those who like the feel of grass under foot. And removing choice just isn't tennis.