The Top Family-friendly Shopping Mall in Indianapolis is Castleton Square Mall

Conveniently located on the northeast side of Indianapolis off of Interstate I-465, Castleton Square Mall is anchored by Macy's Department store, Dick's Sporting Goods, JCPenney, Von Maur, Sears and more than 130 specialty stores. Although high-end stores such as Nordstrom and Parisian are located at the Circle Center Mall in the heart of Indianapolis, Castleton is by far the more practical, family-friendly mall. Thanks to ample parking, a patron can drop by Castleton for fifteen minutes to pick up a socket wrench at Sears or pass an entire day enjoying great food and shopping either alone or with friends.

Parents rest assured, even though it is located in a low-crime area, there is plenty of excellent, friendly security at Castleton. I personally can vouch for the security detail. When a blond, blue-eyed member of my family, all of 25 pounds and 36 inches tall, set out on an adventure of her own, she was greeted kindly and firmly by a uniformed guard and led within minutes back into the arms of her briefly panicked parent. It is a stroller from now for that little lass.

Simon Property Group, headquartered in Indianapolis, is the largest developer of shopping malls in the country. It is little wonder they've done a first-rate job with Castleton Mall. If you've heard of Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, you've heard of Simon Malls. With a presence in 39 states and several foreign countries, Simon Malls are renown for cleanliness and superior guest services. And the area around the mall is a shoppers haven with everything from The Guitar Center to Goodwill. Also in the vicinity is an AMC Theater chain, Kohl's department store, ToysR'US, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble bookstore, Border's bookstore, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Old Navy.

Since shopping always works up an appetite, restaurants at the food court at Castleton are as follows:

Asian Chao
Auntie Anne's Pretzels
Buca di Beppo
Cafe' de Meemo
Charley's Grilled Subs
Chick-fil-A
Dairy Queen
Frullati Cafe
Maggie Moo's Ice Cream
McDonald's
On The Border
Pizza di Roma
Sarku Japan
T.G.I. Friday's
T.G.I. Friday's Express Café

Of these, T.G.I Fridays and Sarku, Japan and two favorites.

One of my favorite reasons for going to Castleton Square Mall is the overall pleasing atmosphere. Sure, there are a lot of young kids at the mall, as there are at any mall, but the young people at Castleton seem to be having a good time. In over thirty years of shopping at Castleton, I personally haven't seen any rowdy kids or threatening behavior by anyone (except maybe that little 25 pound runaway I mentioned earlier). It has happened, of course, but it doesn't happen often. Great pains are taken, I believe, to keep Castleton a safe, family-friendly place to shop and have a good time. Live music by local artists is not uncommon and various pageants and celebrity visitors to the city can prove quite entertaining. Expect to see a lot of race memorabilia while visiting any mall in Indianapolis. Those Indy cars are quite impressive close up.

If you're from out-of-town, you may wonder how easy it is to get to, say, Conseco Field House to see and NBA game or to the RCA Dome to take in a NFL game. Castleton Square, thanks to its location on I-465, the loop around Indianapolis, is a quick twenty-minutes to just about any place in the city, including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the west side of the city.

Once again, Castleton Square Mall is located at 6020 East 82nd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46250. It has entrances on 82nd Street and 86th Street. To call the mall, dial (317) 849-9993. A full store listing, as well as information about nearby hotels and attractions can be found www.simon.com/mall/mall_info.aspx?ID=162.

As I mentioned earlier, Clay Terrace and Circle Center Mall are stunning, with the finest restaurants and high-end shops. But when it comes to family-friendly, no mall in Indianapolis can beat Castleton Square. Enjoy.