Harvest Green by Johnson Development — Local services in Richmond

Update: Updating because we have now lived here through the pandemic and through the 8 years of ongoing development.

1. We are 8 years into the neighborhood and the HOA is still with Johnson Development. They like to come after you for things like a portable basketball goal, lights in the backyard, a fruit tree that dies every freeze but continue to have terrible management of the increasing HOA fees every year.

2. One pool for the whole neighborhood where the pool gets so crowded it feels like spring break on Panama Beach.

3. They approved a mega apartment complex with atleast 370 units coming online all zoned to Neill Elementary, Bowie Middle, and Travis High. This is going to skyrocket the student to teacher ratio with potentially 300+ new families coming into the schools.

4. They added 2 parks to the neighborhood, all equally boring and not small kid friendly. The barn park has curse words graffitied inside by HOA doesn’t actually get out of their car and do real work here.

5. No waiting area for bus kids still, splash pad still sucks, parks still suck.

Pros:

1. Neighbors are still nice and friendly
2. We bought at $100/sqft so we’re stuck here for a while.

Original Review: I have been living here for almost two years and the following have happened for a very high HOA fee:

There is no real farm to table, vegetable friendly, “farm” neighborhood. All we got is a roundabout with 2-3 herbs and I’m pretty sure they get sprayed pesticides by the landscaping company.

Developers boast resort style pool and state of the art facilities. The pool is small and not kid friendly. The gym doesn’t have 24 hour access. The clubhouse is overpriced considering it only has a kitchen sink and ice machine, not even an oven or warmers for hot food options.

The playground is really something I didn’t even realize could be messed up. It really is quite boring for children. When equipment breaks it takes months to replace, no cover on the playgrounds so it’s unusable from June-August.

The school buses don’t go into the sections to pick up children so kids are forced to stand in the rain/heat/cold while they wait for the school bus away from any sort of dwelling to keep them dry. If the buses aren’t going to go into each section at least make it possible for the number of kids waiting to be safe from the elements.

The kids water splash area is not only in an unsafe location, it’s literally water coming out of the ground. The kids are better off playing with hoses in your backyard. The pool is on the other side so kids who want to play in the water and pool both cannot without an adult consistently going through the farmhouse to take them inside/outside. Meaning you can’t keep an eye on multiple kids.

Johnson Development does not care about the neighborhood. The last 8 years nothing has come about from neighborhood cries for change.

Overpriced price per square foot. Do not be conned into purchasing a house for...

This community is next to a Prison. The landscape is not well maintained. I went to this community to buy a house constantly for last 30 days. The grass is growing with no maintenance and the play area grass is not well kept. The in and out to Harlem during school hours due to Travis high school is really hectic as these high school kids likes to drive and show off on the road with their cars. (don't trust my words. Just go there around 3:30pm when school returns after summer and witness) The builders are trying to make more and more money.. The houses are priced more than Aliana. Harvest Green is living on the popularity of Aliana The same builders are selling houses thousands of dollars less in neighboring communities and other more popular communities in Houston suburbs. Harvest Green price is increased by 20% since beginning of 2017. Houston market is not doing that well in terms of jobs. Why is the price going that crazy in Harvest Green? 20% increase is more than the historical increase in Richmond area has never been that much. This is a bubble that builders are creating. Same builders will tell you the same story if you visit the neighboring communities. The tax rate is ridiculously high. People might not understand that first year the tax is low because tax is based on the land price of the builder. Next year appraisal district will charge you at 3.239% and HOA from Johnson development has gone up constantly. It just reached $995 from $925. Johnson development is renowned of increasing their HOA over time. This HOA is not going down it will constantly go up. They haven't even finished the tennis courts and stuff. If you don't trust it ask people living in Riverstone and they will tell you how they have to fight HOA every year. I am not writing this because of personal gain. I learned this market being new to Houston for last 3 years. I have really invested time in Harvest Green and would like to share my thoughts about it. Some people might not agree with me. Please investigate on what I wrote, you don't have to agree with me but its not an opinion i spend a lot of time learning this about harvest green. Sorry if I am hurting...

Don't listen to some of these people complaining. My wife and I live in Harvest Green and its a great community! One person complained about HOA not allowing dogs. I have 2 dogs and we have zero problems. Most likely the resident didn't take care of their pets and allowed them to run amok which is strictly forbidden in the subdivisions bylaws. So mostly these residents didn't read what they signed or they really don't live in Harvest Green. Other people say that there isn't a garden yet. This is also false. They do have multiple gardens spread over the sections. The reason people haven't seen them is because the plants are still growing. Harvest Green just recently planted fruits and vegetables since the neighborhood is still in development. Same goes for the playground. They are in development of building more in different sections. They just finished another playground at the entrance near Travis HS. Splash area whats called their splash pad means that water shoots up out of the ground if they don't have equipment. I don't know how anyone could not understand this. Also, price per square foot is not expensive here. If people think its expensive than they need to go shop around at subdivisions within the same price range and/or master plan communities. Homes in Harvest Green range anywhere from $250k to $800k. Aliana home prices are at least tens of thousands more than Harvest Green. The exact home that I have is $68k more at Cross Creek Ranch and $20k more at Sienna Plantations. A reason is because their subdivision is further more established. But I guess there are some people that don't understand this either. The fact that this area is developing so much is going to be a tribute to higher home...