I lived in Dover Farms for 4 years, and I've had my ups and downs with it. Let me try to cover each section in detail:

Parking: A number of parking spots are available by each building - some have more available than others. Not once did I have a problem getting a parking space. Each unit also comes with one side of a 2-car garage. This means you'll be sharing your garage space with someone else. Not usually an issue, but I was storing some things on my side of the garage that were stolen when the tenant on the other side moved out.

Noise: The buildings themselves are not noisy at all. Only in rare circumstances could you hear anything going on in other apartments. The apartments are right on Route 82, so you do get some car noise there, especially (as in our case) if yours faces the road. (Our unit was on the top floor, so we didn't have noise from anyone above us)

Grounds: Overall, I'd say they take nice care of the grounds. There's always someone out mowing, trimming etc. Most of the problem comes from pet owners not cleaning up after, which is not a problem for the apartment staff, rather it's just a case of some bad neighbors.

Safety: I've never felt unsafe here. The only thing I would say is that sometimes outside stairs tend to accumulate ice in the winter - a common problem in many apartment complexes. I did have my car "broken" into (I left the door unlocked) and some spare change was taken. My fault.

Construction: Generally very good. The vaulted ceilings in the living room are nice. The fireplace is a great feature for just a one-bedroom apartment, and the overall floor plan has a good flow. Some minor water spots during heavy storms, but not bad. Only real construction issue is no insulation in the bedroom walk-in closet, making clothes quite chilly in the winter! (Maybe this is only an issue for top-floor units')

Maintenance: Hit-or-miss. Sometimes they fix it immediately, other times it takes a month or more. Take for instance when my garage door was broken in the winter. I had to park outside during ice and snow storms for about a month until it was finally fixed. It seems like problems in the winter take forever to fix, but any other time they are quite quick at fixing problems.

Staff: The staff is generally very courteous and friendly, some better than others. They can be a bit disorganized from time-to-time, but they do go for a small community feel to the complex, hosting various games and activities for the tenants. I've never had any problems with billing or anything. When I moved out, although they were unable to keep my scheduled walkthrough appointment, they called the next day to let me know there were no charges. I thought this was more than fair.

Overall: I would recommend this apartment complex to others, but not before listing the negatives that I encountered when there. Based on the two apartments I lived in before this one, I would rank this one as the best of the three (which is why I lived here for 4 years!) You get some great amenities, including a washer & dryer in the unit, dishwasher, ample closet space, and some units will even have accent walls in the living room painted something other than "apartment white" (ours was a eucalyptus green). It was a nice place to call home.

If you're just casually planning on using the gym, you may be okay. There are free weights, some machines, a pool, and a racquetball court. A large percentage of the fitness machines are broken though, which makes the gym not really worth it. The pool is a good sized pool, and generally well taken care of - but is quite busy in the summer months.

I think too many people get caught up when they hear Dover Farms described as "luxury" apartments. I wouldn't say they're luxurious, but you do get some good things for the price. A lot of times, they will run specials where if you sign up, you'll get $100 off per month for a one year lease, sometimes throwing in a free month of rent too. Definitely a good idea!

We moved out because we bought a house, otherwise we would have gladly stayed for another year!

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/09/2009
I think that if an apartment community advertises and markets itself as "luxury," and charges residents a price befitting a luxury apartment, certain amenities should be provided. Keep in mind that some luxury communities in the area provide services to their residents like free continental breakfasts in the clubhouse, dry cleaning services, concierge services, etc. At Dover Farms, "luxury" means missing roof panels, falling siding and window screens, missing gutters, A/C units smashed in by 200-pound icicles in the winter, a dirty pool, one working treadmill, serious flooding problems, kitchen drawers that won't stay put together, a clubhouse overrun by questionable people who don't live here, heating systems that don't work, building doors that don't lock, garage doors that don't open or close, management whose idea of organization is a pile of old post-it notes ... I could go on and on. This is not worth an average of $1000 a month. And by the way, those of you taking advantage of move-in deals like a 2-bedroom for the price of a 1-bedroom unit, you're going to get hit with a major rent increase next year. The rent goes up EVERY year. I don't think that expecting these problems to be resolved in a "luxury" community is asking too much at all. And I have just one thing to add about your mention of community events. We have had one in the past year. It was supposed to be a Browns tailgating party. The people in the office did not show up. They just put out some chips and pop and left. They didn't even show up for work that day! There used to be some really fun events here where they gave out prizes like restaurant gift certificates and rent coupons, but they haven't done it in a while and I chalk it up to the poor staff that is currently in charge of the place. It doesn't take much money or time to have a community mixer or a chance to get to meet people. They just don't care.

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