High Ridge YMCA

Great swim program staff, friendly desk crew. My son is on his 2^nd year here. Heck, I learned to swim here! It rocks!

This place has been a total nightmare when it comes to management. We had a really great swim teacher that we loved, but I think she quit. Then we paid for private swim lessons over the summer, and it was impossible to get them scheduled even when being totally flexible on time, teacher, day, etc. We finally complained to management and they said they would issue us a refund. Almost two months later, the refund never came. I’ve followed up, but the staff doesn’t respond to emails and calls always go to voicemail. We tried to reach out to the Aquatics Department the other day and their voicemail stated that they are just now finishing their spring swim session and signing people up for summer lessons. We’re nearing the end of September. I finally got through to the Metro Chicago YMCA offices, and they said they never received any information from High Ridge about a refund, etc. They handled it and processed my refund right away, apologizing for High Ridge saying they are having some customer service issues with this facility.
I want to love this place, but they’re clearly going through a rough transition period right now.

The High Ridge YMCA has gone through some transition. Their former Executive Director, Fitness Director, and Aquatics Director have all transitioned away from the YMCA. There is a new Operations Director, Ms. Keane who is very sharp and has quickly taken the rope to improve the facility operations and quality of programming. Look out for great things to come at HRY!

awesome place! love the people and the programs. the fitness center is a little cramped but they have a decent variety of machines and free weights go up to 100lbs. the pool is nice, kinda gross sometimes but nice.

The «wellness room» as they call it is a smelly small, poor ventilated DUMP. The clerks at the counter as you walk in are miserable people. The pool is another example of filth. The lightning is dingy, maybe there is seaweed growing in the pol too.
Wellness room has very few machines that often are broken. Again it stinks in there and is dirty. Rude staff, hard to believe they are in business at all.

I love my Y. I joined here a little over a year ago after they had just upgraded everything in their Facility Center. I have a little girl who goes into the baby sitting four times a week while I work out. They have known her since she was 9 months old and they have totally fostered that relationship, even becoming my Facebook friends.
The classes in the morning are taught by professionals and I feel like I’m getting more than I am paying for by using this Y. The whole community of workers and patrons are just kind and I feel like I know everyone there since we go so often.
They just redid their normal use bathrooms last month and the locker rooms were also recently redone and are very clean and well kept. Every morning I’m there there are a couple people cleaning so they definitely stay on top of it.
I have used the pool a few times with my daughter and it’s always clean and easy to get in and out of. They even have toys for little toddlers.
Go here!

I give this YMCA 5 stars for the following reasons:
1. The facility & parking lot are clean and well lit (as a female who goes to this gym at night this is important).
2. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable and want to be there to help the clients without being overwhelming.
3. The swimming pool! I was very hesitant during the winter freeze, but it was clean, WARM and I was very happy to see they had the equipment for people with limited mobility.
4. I work out here about 3 – 4 times a week. There’s always a treadmill available and the quality of machines for the price is great. I have been a member of Virgin Active (overseas), Bally Total Fitness, Cheetah Gym– so I can compare fairly.
If I had kids I would send them here for classes. The children always look happy, involved and active.
If I had to choose a negative– if you aren’t a kid person or don’t like sharing your «gym space» with regular people and kids (this is a family type place) it might not be for you.
Can’t wait to try some classes. I’ve heard they are great.
Thanks YMCA!

I love this YMCA. I love that it is salt-​of-​the-​earth and people are actually nice to each other. I enjoy Ro’s energetic early AM greeting and seeing what hat she is wearing. I look forward to seeing fellow boot campers both in class and out-​and-​about. The spin class has a video component and the instructor has a huge music appreciation. The pool is nice but it can get busy. This is a quintessential Rogers Park/​High Ridge gem.

This Y is a perfect fit for ME. As someone who has reached her mid 30s and over the last 7 years spent too much time working and not enough (any?) time working out, this is a great place to rediscover the active self I once was. My husband and I joined in January when they had their no-​joining fee special. Since they were busy orienting many new members it took a couple of weeks to get an orientation and fitness consultation so I spent the first weeks just biking (an activity I am comfortable with). The machines are all nice and easy to use.
Two weeks in it was time for my orientation and fitness consultation. The personal trainer was very nice, easy to talk to, attentive to my questions and concerns and extremely thorough in going over using the strength training equipment. He also got me signed up for the activtrax system. Now, I was a member of a Y several years back so I was somewhat familiar with activtrax, but it has evolved much further and now I am getting customized strength workouts that will grow with my progress (very cool!). You just sign in at the kiosk, print your program and follow the guide. Afterward you just enter what you did and done! The kiosk also shows video of every exercise if needed). This program is easy to use and I can sign on to review my workout from home before heading to the gym and enter it from home if I want too. Also, the trainers are easy to identify and very friendly in helping. They will not bark at you if you are doing anything incorrectly. They approach and very kindly assist so you do not hurt yourself. (Very impressive to me).
Four weeks in, I signed up for intermediate swim lessons. As a kid I did have lessons, but they were traumatic, so let’s not go there. Anyway, first lesson was last night and it was terrific. I left happy and feeling good. The teacher is very friendly and supportive. He was very good about seeing where we each were in our abilities and was able to tailor his instructions for each of us. I am pretty confident that 7 weeks from now I will be able to swim laps for exercise (which is my personal goal).
Also, a note about the pool. When we got our tour the night we signed up for Y membership, the pool looked kind of small, and looking at the schedule, I wasn’t sure if I would find a time that worked for me to do anything other than the lessons. They use this pool for many things, HS team practices, kids lessons, and a few other adult fitness classes and family swim. However, after being in the pool I am impressed by the utilization of space and time. I now have a better understanding that if I want to use the pool, there is plenty of time and space. And it is a really nice pool.
A few last notes: The staff are amazing, very friendly, always helpful from the front desk to the trainers to the lifeguards, they are there to help you. High quality people. And finally, this is what I always thought a Y should be. There are kids and teens in the building all of the time – taking lessons, classes, in after care, playing basket ball, lifting weights. Thank you! These kids are happy to be there, they know the staff and the staff members know them. And these kids behave just how happy active kids should behave. What a beautiful thing for our community! So if you don’t want to be a part of that, that’s cool. Go find a better fit, but I give this Y 5 stars because it really is exactly what a Y should be. If I were rating it as a gym I would give it only 4 stars. But it’s much more than a gym.

This isn’t a high-​end gym with tons of fancy equipment and gorgeous people preening and prancing about. It’s a gym for the neighborhood it is in, a little downscale, unpretentious and functional. Sometimes things can be a bit unorganized but they’re friendly and pleasant to deal with.
All the equipment is pretty much modern and good quality, and even at the busiest times it never feels too crowded there. For someone like me who doesn’t feel comfortable in gyms to begin with this is my kind of place.

High Ridge Y exemplifies the qualities a YMCA should have. They care about their community, provide assistance for those who need it, and encourage healthy living through many different programs. Furthermore, they are constantly working to improve their facilities and have some of the friendliest staff I have ever encountered. I have been a Y member since I was young and visited many different ones and High Ridge is one of the best!

I really love this place. I go mostly to aqua aerobics. The teachers are excellent, the water isn’t freezing, and there’s lots of classes. I just wish there were hairdryers one could actually use in the ladies locker rooms.

Love my trainer, Jenn, the fitness director. The swimming program is perfect for my 3 and 4 year olds. This Y is also incredibly dedicated to serving the local community — with before and after school care, Headstart and other youth development programs.

I love their visiting member policy which means I can get in a quick workout on my way home twice a week when I can’t get to my «home» Y. TVs on the cardio equipment makes the burn less painful. Staff and members are friendly. Seems an important part of the community, lots of kids around in various programs.

I am not going to go into details about why this YMCA is worse than most in the Chicagoland area. Just know it is the truth.
If you are a visiting member from another Y — don’t bother.

Note for everyone! Best times to go to avoid the crowds are after 10:30 AM until lunch time, then after 1 PM until rush hour, then I would figure after 7 PM. Never been on a weekend yet.
Sometimes difficult to find a staff member as they’re all so busy, but when I do they’re all extremely friendly and knowledgeable.
Also, if you hate to wait for a machine, don’t go on a holiday. It’s nuts. As would be expected.

Dave’s Boot Camp is enough reason to join this Y. The best kept secret in Rogers Park and surrounding area. Go to one of his classes and you will know why.
This is not the East Bank Club but you will have options for a well rounded program offerings for you and your family. Do not expect valet service but do expect smiling faces and staff who would call you by your first name. In the last several years, this Y has made major improvements to improve total members’ experience. I am looking forward to their future initiatives to make this Y one of the best in the area.
And the icing on the cake? You can feel good knowing fees you pay to this Y support programs which invest in building a strong community. Now, this is priceless!

I’ve been a member for a long time. Lots of amenities for families and a good deal for families, couples and seniors, but it’s no longer a good deal for for single adults. They’ve just raised monthly for single adults to $ 47/​month. They’ve made significant improvements to the workout room arrangement over the years – moves to larger rooms, more free weights and improved cardio equipment options, but $ 47 a month is a tipping point for me. They don’t offer anything nearly as good as a few other club options I have in the area in that price range.
I stuck with them for a long time while they badly managed teens in the exercise rooms, crowding around equipment, making a lot of noise and generally creating a tense unpleasant atmosphere. Also Thefts in the parking lot and grungy locker room.
The new manager seems to have restored order and made a few additional improvements, which I really appreciate – he’s a good guy and seems to know how to run a gym, but the single people in this neighborhood aren’t wealthy. Are our health and social needs so entirely unimportant that we should subsidize every other type of member so heavily? I don’t mind some subsidy, but this has gotten way out of proportion to the reality of single people living in this area. This isn’t Wrigleyville. Most of us are of modest means.
They should consider that the single member subsidies will disappear if they chase off all the single members who can go to much nicer clubs, with no kids, for similar prices. I want to stay, but I’m shopping now and will move on if they don’t roll back this increase.

I love this gym! As someone who uses it frequently, as in five + days a week, I really need a gym that is no-​nonsense, low hassle.
Pros:
Spin classes with Chloe.
The pool is relatively free for weekday lap swims
The tvs on the equipment are heaven sent
The trainers and instructors will help you out, even if you dont pay them
The front desk staff is the friendliest! Big shout out to Abel who welcomes me by name and asks me about my day or workout.
The locker rooms are pretty much always clean and clear. I dont have a problem showering or getting dressed.
Cons:
It’s a Y, so there are always kids. With low supervision of the workout room, the kids are running around and hogging exercise machines.
All of sudden, in the last three months, the gym has gotten extremely busy. Even with this new time system, it still takes forever to get a machine.
Lack of spin bikes or equipment in general. It really needs to expand. I know the Y is broke, but the best thing this place can do is to clear out the weights and expand to a separate room.
Pool can be dirty or very cold and the swim instructors can be very… well, teenage. They tend to forget they are teaching and would rather be socializing.

I just want to reiterate again how much of a fan I am of this location! I have been probably in one of my most consistent phases ever and have been going every morning at 5:30am to attend Dave’s Boot Camp, or try to do our own boot camp of sorts with the members who show up the days his class isn’t scheduled. I feel energetic, well rested and in such a good mood since I’ve been committing to a fitness program full time. Also, I wanted to mention I’ve discovered two new classes on Saturdays that I’m excited to add to my routine in the upcoming weeks. There is an 8am aerobics class and a 9am Zumba class. Susan, the Zumba instructor, allowed my friend SJ and I to attend as a «try out» since there is a small extra fee for this particular class. How fun! Susan was energetic, truly passionate and fun as she lead the class through an aerobics worked based on Latin dancing moves. Merengue, salsa, reggaeton and even Indian bhangra music played as we did various dance moves! ‘m going to sign up for sure! Everyone in the class was smiling, dancing and having a great time! I’m really happy that the YMCA has become a part of my life and that I have something really healthy and positive to focus on!