Dunno if controversial but:
I really enjoyed Johns & McKone's Teen Titans run overall but I did find VERY boring when the story ONLY focused on Tim, Cassie and Conner. Somehow, they never grew on me nor I really cared about them... maybe Cass a little.
Sounds like you understand why it is controversial. It's well-liked by the majority, but the minority, a good chunk of which is filled by YJ fans, hates it.
That bit about how it got you into TT? I hear that a lot as I've also heard multiple times that it was how people got into DC.
I've only heard a very few people not liking it... made me wonder if there's more non-fans out there than I realized.
The Johns TT books were always available in the public libraries in my city. I wonder if that was the case in a lot of cities/countries, if so that would definitely help explain how it was so many people's gateway into DC.
It's a matter of opinion whether they were better or worse. Tim, Kon, Bart and Cassie were all changed to be more "iconic", which means they were changed to more reflect either their mentors or their predecessors. Some people liked that. Other people preferred when those four were more distinct from the Bat, Super, Flash and Wonder families.
Personally, I prefer Young Justice. Why? Because it was funny. In often prefer the approaches to superhero comics that play up the inherent absurdity of it all.