YMCA

The YMCA is one of the best deals in town when it comes to a place you can use with your whole family. This location is undergoing a pretty substantial renovation right now and they have freshened up the locker rooms and fitness areas. Equipment is very well maintained and very few machines are worn out.
The pool has a kids area and the childcare is free for 2 hours while you are working out.
Is it as nice as Lifetime? No. But it costs about a third as much.
The staff has always been friendly, but not too friendly and their sports activities are alsogreat for kids.
Haven’t tried training or any group classes.
All in all, a good value if you don’t need granite locker room benches and a 4 story waterslide.

I come here mainly to use the fitness equipment. They offer a wide variety of activities for the whole family: fitness classes, swimming, basketball, Zumba, kettelbell, raquetball, spinning, and more. They have special programs for seniors and for cancer survivors.
Compared to other metro YMCA locations, the facility is aging. The locker rooms are spartan, with plenty of cold tile and rusty old lockers. On the other hand, they’ve been updating their equipment. They have a large number of treadmills, bikes, and elliptical trainers, all equipped with iPod interfaces and TVs. For some reason, they don’t seem to have any rowing machines (that I’ve noticed).
The atmosphere is quite family friendly. There’s always something going on to occupy the kids. There are «family» dressing rooms to address those awkward child-​accompanied-​by-​opposite-​sex-​parent situations. The fitness equipment is arranged to maximize privacy, so I don’t feel like someone is staring at me while I work out. I’ve found both staff and members to be friendly; during crowded times, strangers don’t talk to each other much, but at other times I’ll usually score a warm «hello» or two.
They don’t do a whole lot for the «C» in YMCA or the «social responsibility» part of their mission, but that’s not for lack of trying. Most people just view them as a nonprofit health club.

This is NOT the type of YMCA I remember growing up with. They seem more interested in making money than helping kids. Swimming lessons are overpriced and the employees are not not friendly (borderline rude).