The Campus Recreation Center, or CRC, is one of the best things about being a University of Cincinnati student. Being a student you get free (technically, included in your tuition) access to all areas of the gym. All areas like the lap pool, leisure pool, basketball courts, weight room, treadmills, rock wall, yoga rooms and much more. It has all of your essential areas of fitness you would get out of any other fitness center. It doesn't have all the flash of some of the bigger 'Globo Gyms" out there like virtual reality screens on treadmills or whatever I've just recently heard about, but I totally fine without all the flash.
The basketball courts are on the bottom level; there are a ton, six full sized courts. There is always plenty of action going on here from pick games anyone can jump in on, to practicing alone and even other games like kickball are played here. Also on the bottom floor are the locker rooms and showers. This is kind of an odd location for me. In order to get to the weight rooms and track area you first need to climb up the three floors, six flights of stairs, to get there. Or you can take the elevator, but that kind of defeats the purpose of being at a gym, doesn't it?
The second floor is the main entrance and lobby area. Also, the rock wall is located here. Kind of a hidden feature of CRC. Not many people know about it. Up one more floor is the track, weight room, lots of treadmills, and other machines. There are also some more lockers and bathrooms but not a full sized shower or locker room.
I am not for sure but alumni pricing for CRC is around $25 or so, so it is not a bad investment especially when you compare it against the money hungry chain gyms. Plus, it comes without the threat of a gym continually charging you like so many horror stories people have told.
The parking is a little bit of a downer. It is street parking mostly, unless you want to cough up the money to buy a parking pass to one of the garages but spending several hundred dollars a quarter cancels out that free access to the gym. There are meters right along campus and also if you are willing to walk an extra block, un-metered spots on the other side of short Vine where I usually park.
Another annoying quirk I noticed and have no idea why it annoys me so much is that the campus cafeteria is located right outside the entrance to CRC. So, you are forced to smell the fried food capital of Cincinnati as you are entering or leaving the gym. Not exactly a smart job planning wise. It kind of kills your motivation.
Other than the horribly placed cafeteria and long distance parking the CRC sports the best bang for your buck of any gym in the area, especially if you are a student. The staff are all students and as friendly as can be and the equipment is all fairly new so your not left struggling to get a machine to work. If your a University of Cincinnati prospective student looking for a perk of the school to set your college choice dilemma over the top, then look no further than The Campus Recreation Center. read more