Best Recreation/Learning Center

Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

3200 California (at Presidio), 292-1200, www.jccsf.org

After reopening last spring, the JCCSF, as it's affectionately known, startled regulars with the size of its new $60 million recreation and learning center, a three-story brick monolith on California Street. The schedule of activities is as thick as a college catalog, with just as many classes. There's a full spa, a gym, and two pools; classes and lectures on Jewish life and culture; as well as a long list of art, dance, cooking, multimedia, and writing classes, from belly dancing to "The Joys of Scrabble." The center is open to all and receives thousands of visitors daily, about half non-Jewish. Walking through the glass doors into the bright and airy atrium, the counter staffed with a handful of busy people, you might think you've stumbled into a luxury hotel. This is not your local Y.