I give it 2.5 stars (2= "Meh. I've experienced better. 3= "A-OK.")…read more
Love lots. Not a fan of a few things.
PROS:
Beautiful, new, modern, open, sunlight filled facility
Huge child watch facility with attached outside play area.
Tons of great group X classes offered
No pressure "sales pitch" to join
No long term contracts.
One reasonable membership price offered- based on who you are- single, family, student, senior, etc
discounts for low income
Nice pool- 5 lap lanes, with marked cones for changing uses, slide, very shallow end for littles, lazy river.
Love that the lap lanes are on the opposite end of the "play area" of the pool. Less chance of flying balls hitting me in the head while trying to swim.
CONS:
Hot tub is 14 and over- plenty of places allow kids 5 and up. I wish the Y did too, at least some hours.
Vending machine with crap foods. At a place about fitness, just no.
Need more choices for kids. family friendly Zumba or Yoga? ninja warrior course? another climbing wall?
TV on way too often at child watch. Why is there even a tv in there?
Locker rooms
The rest is my rant on the locker rooms, and why I HATE them.
HATE!! the locker room!!
Clearly, I needed to be on the board when they made this decision.
Having two locker rooms, which are not the same, is awful.
I get it. You hate kids. You hate parents.
I find it oh so very upsetting that a family gym is so family unfriendly, in the locker room department.
In my opinion, the locker room set up and rules are based on a belief that childless women are more valuable than children and moms.
It is infuriating and insulting.
Oh yes, I'm sure the Y has a well polished reason for offering these choices, and a way to make it seem they are going above and beyond to meet everyone's needs. They aren't.
Here are the choices, which sound good to begin with: women's locker room (over 19 years old), girls locker room (under 19), family locker rooms.
sounds great. choices.
Here's where it goes wrong:
If I come with a nursing baby, where do I nurse?
I'm in the pool with my baby. My 6 year old is also with me. I can't leave her in the pool alone while I nurse. I can nurse on the pool deck. I don't feel comfortable doing so today. I want a place to sit. A comfortable place to sit, where I can still supervise my 6 year old.
Since I am a woman with children, I am supposed to use the girl's locker room.
I HATE the girl's locker room.
The girls locker room is smaller.
There is one bench for the entire room. One. It is the first thing seen when walking through through the door. Sometimes, there is another moveable one in there. Sometimes.
Neither bench is comfortable. Both are too high to sit comfortably. Certainly too high to sit and nurse.
The girl's room is one open square, no rows of lockers.
I want a row to "hide" in for a tiny bit of privacy.
I'm not as flexible as I once was. I don't have the balance needed to put my shoes on while balancing on the other foot, with no place to put my other shoe, as there is no bench available! Infuriating!
So, I am supposed to use the women's and send my kids to the girl's locker room.
I know the chances are slim, but I don't know who else is in the girl's locker room with my kids. Who is the predator in there grooming my child?
And, for other parents, how do you know I'm not the predator adult in there grooming your child? You don't know.
I want them with me, where I can keep an eye on them, and on other people around them.
But, I don't wish to be the only adult in the room, therefore becoming the de facto locker room patrol.
family locker rooms.
Great if you have a parent with opposite sex children. Love that they have this option. If I had boys, I would suck it up, and use these.
Again, they need a decent bench in here, enough to both sit and place your bag within reach while sitting.
I have fairly extreme claustrophobia, so I'd have to really get myself mentally prepared to use these.
Better choice:
Create a sense of community and sharing and coexisting appropriately in one locker room for each sex.
Being respectful is not separate and unequal. It's everyone learning and following the behaviors of respect.
Explain clearly to ALL new members, or post the "unwritten" rules of locker room etiquette.
When a gym provides these amenities, ALL girls, women, seniors, etc. deserve to have access to:
Private shower stalls.
Plenty of benches to sit on.
Plenty of shelf space to put our items while using.
Swimsuit spinner.
I have been a member of many other gyms in many other cities.
This is not only possible, it is preferable.
At the very least, since the "damage is already done" with having two different locker room per sex, allow adult women the choice the use either with their children.