Yates Family YMCA

They are currently in renovation for another building. The plans are beautiful. With that being said the reason they get 5 stars is because the atmosphere is always amazing. The location has a beautiful view of the river, the staff are very helpful, and the classes are great! My personal favorite is Zumba.

Awesome facility, great employees, very helpful! Love the y
And now the new building is going to be state of the art. Nice

Make sure you remember your breadcrumbs on your first visit, or the Minotaur will get you in the labyrinth. I kid, but that will be your first impression of this place. It’s like a maze. If you live in Riverside, you basically choose between here and Snap Fitness, and while Snap is way cheaper it’s also way smaller. Not to mention you aren’t a black sheep at the Y if you don’t participate in expensive classes. I absolutely love working out and the Y is convenient, so I’m comfortable paying an exorbitant amount to use a gym from 1970.
The good: The people here, both patrons and employees, are both very nice. I’m a put headphones in for the duration of a lifting session guy, but everyone here is friendly. The interior is mazey and confusing BECAUSE there is so much stuff inside. The strength area is deceptively large — there is actually a significant amount of equipment.
Not that it will matter to many, but I love that the dumbbells go in 2.5lb increments up to 35s. Even the biggest guys in the gym can struggle with exercises like shoulder iso work, so the ability to go up in smaller weights is much appreciated by me. I also love that they have a pace clock at the pool — as a competitive swimmer I can never just swim without keeping track of my times. Here’s to hoping Winston will have a digital pace clock.
The bad: It’s pretty damn expensive. When I first started there I had gotten laid off and qualified for the cheaper membership, but even that was more expensive than much better facilities like an LA Fitness. Now that I have a job again I’m paying a ridiculous amount, and most people there are too I would assume as even those who needed the most assistance were still paying a lot for such an old facility.
The ugly: It looks terrible. It smells terrible. Water will just drip on you out of nowhere. It’s insane that a gym this old went this long without being refurbed, but the new Winston Y will be here before we know it, and it looks incredible.
Bottom line, it’s oddly charming and most anybody will find the equipment they need regardless of exercise of choice, unless you’re looking to Olympic lift seriously heavy weight (no bumper plates). But make no mistake, if there was a better option in Riverside I think most members would bide their time there until Winston is done.

Very happy with the friendly staff. The building is old but they are building a brand new Yates next door should be done in Aug 2016 pretty excited. The Yoga studio is nice and big. My daughter and I did yoga on the empty studio alone tonight it was nice. So far we are happy and looking forward to the new building.

They have a decent amount of weight equipment and you can get a good workout in here, but the place smells like wet towels that were left in the washing machine too long and then used to wipe up Indian food. Also water is almost always dripping from the ceiling… even if it hasn’t rained in a few days.
You used to be able to use the basketball courts here until they started RPC basketball, now it’s either being used by kids or by people who are way too good for average guys to play with.
I am sure the new facilities will be better, but for now it is not worth it if you have other options and have to pay the full price.

For now, this place is no more than 2 stars. It’s run down, smelly, has a crappy steam room and is laid out like a giant maze. The only reason I became a member is because I work 2 blocks away and it makes for an easy lunch-​time workout. This has to be the oldest Y in the city.
I will say that the staff keeps the place running as smoothly as possible, but it’s gotta be tough. Luckily, construction is underway on a completely new facility and should be done within the next year… hopefully. It’ll be right on the water too. I’ll update my review then.

I’m not sure how this place gets good reviews. It seems like one of those dive places that locals seem to love even though well past its prime. This place is tired, as witnessed by the building of a new facility which will completely replace this by the end of 2016. In the meantime, suffering through it is exactly what one must do to call this place your home gym. Sure, this place has decent equipment, a pool and locker rooms. However, my experience with the cardio equipment is that it is poorly maintained and doesn’t work properly most of the time. The facility has an overwhelming mold/​mildew stench that I suspect is why I am always a bit congested after I complete my time here. And as others have stated, the pricing is very high compared to the many other local offerings. I get it, some pay a higher price so that others may receive a subsidized membership for the betterment of the community. I do like that they have towels, and one would be pressed to find a better exfoliant. Utilitarian is what comes to mind when thinking about this YMCA location.

I left this gym due to conflicts with it’s pricing and the lack of communication.
It was not due to the staff that I dealt with. Well, some of the staff. Most of the staff were wonderful. Some were less than helpful.
I realized I was staying for one or two classes and I hated going to that gym. I hated seeing the «improvements» they made that was just painting the lockers and putting in new ceiling titles that would be ruined the next time it rained because they never fixed the leaks that were all over the building.
I joined seeing only benefits. Over my year there my excitement to go to this ailing gym declined. In the end I realized I was only going for Gabie’s Yoga class and Barbara Jo’s Pilates class.
I should have known from the beginning that I was going to have issues with the billing side of my gym experience. I was told the price monthly would be $ 4 less than I was actually charged. Providing copies of my contract they would not adjust. Then without warning they upped the monthly charge. No email, phone call or carrier pigeon.
I gave up on arguing with them because it was only a small difference and I really enjoyed the classes. I did bring in my signed contract stating I was to pay a certain amount a month as they all do. No mention of the Y changing it to whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to change it without notifying the client.
They would not and could not change it, they said.
In the end I left due to basically hating the horrible old equipment, the lack of cleanliness in the entire facility (including with some of the gym goers), and just sick of being lied to. The final straw was that they once again increased the membership without notifying me.
When I asked why I wasn’t notified all they said was «They should have told you when they scanned your badge.» They sure can’t wait to send out those ridiculous emails asking you to fill out a survey about how they’re doing but god forbid they send an email about something that is actually important. I asked why they didn’t call or email and again the response was that they should have told me face to face. So basically they were passing the buck off to other people instead of taking responsibility.
And you know, It’s absolutely insane to charge people that much to go a cruddy gym with old equipment, disgusting locker rooms and a parking lot in such bad shape that you could swim in one of the pot holes.

Zumba, pool, weights, cardio! What more could you want! It also has the best Zumba instructors! Cannot wait for their new building to be constructed– it will be the destination for riverside/​Avondale crowd to get their gym on!

We come for the spirit within and wait anxiously for the body without to finish off things! It may be a maze of a place to sort through to get to your workout but nothing beats the heart of the Yates YMCA!

This us my home gym, my community and it houses my socialites of Zumba. Its a older gym but has a big heart, because of the people and Mike the director. Someday soon it will will be a new and shiney building, but its the spirit that makes it so special.

I first joined this YMCA in about 1965 and have enjoyed every minute of working out and swimming here.

I am writing this review as a call to management to stop being lazy. Regardless of the impending opening of the new building 2 to 3 years down the road, your members are paying pretty exorbitant (even in comparison to other available options) fees for their memberships — now. The YMCA needs to respect its members and fix broken equipment, improve the conditions of the current location, and ensure that members have a positive experience and want to return. Sorry, this thing is going to be a book.
Currently, more treadmills are broken in some way than are working. Either the incline doesn’t work or the controls are broken and shorting out or the TV connections are not working. This goes for a number of the ellipticals as well. Overall, it makes for a crappy workout when your spending more time trying to find a machine that works than actually working out.
The women’s dressing room is disgusting. The shower toiletry-​holders are so rusted that there is more surface of rust than there is chrome. A number of the lockers have not worked for quite a while and just need to be fixed. Management decided to take out a section many women used for stretching and crunches to make a bigger office for the staff. This sucks since there is not a lot of space for stretching where you won’t be stared at by some of the icky guys that seem to be using the Y as their personal pick-​up place.
The other problem that I have with this little upgrade for the office is this building has a severe leaking problem. Where’s the money for that?! There are signs of it everywhere — just look up. There is significant mildew and dust on the vents everywhere. And this has been for years, before they decided to make a new building. If you go there during a thunderstorm — which is when most people want to work out inside — forget it. There’s buckets and towels everywhere to pick up the water. I watched a woman on an elliptical get dripped on the other day. Gross.
Finally, call to members. Don’t be disgusting. Have pride and respect for the equipment, your surroundings, and the other members. I tried to use one of the showers recently only to see a used tampon on the shower rack! Gross!!! Maybe if this place didn’t look like a toilet, people wouldn’t find it acceptable to do things like this.
Look, I understand that this is a nonprofit, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of repairs in this place. The Nonprofit Times lists the Top 100 nonprofits in terms of revenue and the Y was at the top of that list in 2012 — again. They have money. Believe me, the new location will be impressive because that is where the Y’s money is being thrown. However, the Y needs to realize that they should not be neglecting their current members. Fix things in the short run and repair what is being said about the YMCA. I used to love the Y, but through significant turnover and many that just don’t seem to care, it’s declining. I will likely be cancelling my membership this month. Riverside is a tight community of families and people that care about its appearance. Right now, the Yates YMCA is a poor example.

Who doesn’t love this YMCA? I learned how to swim there when I was only 3 and still go today almost 30 years later. I have taken advantage of their Pilates classes, personal trainers and community outreach programs. That’s our Riverside Y.

There are not many YMCA’s that can boast a beautiful view of the river during a relaxing Yoga class. [Well, relaxing is a stretch. Yoga is really pretty hard.]
This YMCA is one of my favorite YMCA’s in all of Jacksonville. It is pretty big, newly renovated, has a lot of great cardio equipment with TV’s attached [makes 45 minutes of cardio go by SO MUCH faster], and a large weight training room. They also offer a wide variety of classes from Yoga to Spinning to Country Line Dancing to Zumba to Body Pump.
The location, right along the St. Johns River between Riverside and Downtown, across the water from San Marco, is very centrally located. There is a walking/​running path that goes along the river that is great for outdoor exercise, as well.
Plus, if you get a membership to this branch [Yates Family], you will have access to all of the YMCAs in Jacksonville.
It is not as modern as the [glamorous, can’t believe its a YMCA] Brooks YMCA, but it is a great choice, as far as gyms go.