Lo-Fi web design for associations

Is any association avant garde enough to publish a Web site a la Craigslist?

The Craigslist front end is totally uninteresting. There's not a GIF or JPG to be found. Only HTML color and Times New Roman and Arial fonts. It could have been designed by the Soviets in 1970. It's simple. Utilitarian. Blueish gray.

But the back end: Well, that's a very powerful and useful back end!

In other words, are any associations ignoring the fluff of fancy design and concentrating fully on delivering information? Members are already unimpressed with aesthetically fancy Web sites that have very little useful content. What are you doing about it?