Thanks for the info that HtH, Steveo, and you have provided.

Your description of Zoysia fits perfectly with the grass that I see.

Good thing none of my adjacent neighbors have this type of grass in
their lawn. I don't need to worry about if this grass spreads to my
lawn. Its "straw" color surely doesn't look that great in the
landscape.

Strange thing is that local home centers don't carry the grass seeds of
this grass. Seem like the homeowners had gone out of the way to put
this type of grass on their lawn.

Sounds like Zoysia. It's suited to much warmer climates, but can
easily grow in the northeast and survive hard winters. It goes a
light
brown, more like straw color in Oct in NJ and remains that way till
May. One of my neighbors has it and it looks like hell. It's also
very invasive and spreads through runners. I've seen it break up
asphalt driveways by invading the cracks. In warm weather, it grows
very dense and crowds out weeds.

Jay Chan