Why can't the characters be like real people and always do what's in their best interests--especially when it's obvious.
Chattanooga isn't compared to Atlanta. Also, you've got lots of mountains to hide in and plenty of caves. Also, remember the gun ownership levels per household compared with northerners is factored into the equation. Actually, Alaska surprises me more so then Hawaii. They didn't explain that. The whole state has a population of ~700,000 and that there are thousands of square miles to hide in as it's the largest state in terms of total land mass.
I'd figure colder climates are the best places to avoid zombies. They aren't warm blooded so they'll freeze easier.
Not that any kind of zombie analysis is all that scientific, but I particularly don't really buy that analysis of Hawaii. They have Oahu marked as the safest (probably because of their density of military bases), but Oahu is the most population dense of the islands, and regardless of how many bases there are, you'd be in trouble pretty quick. You'd be better off on one of the smaller islands, which wouldn't take that long to clear, and then you could operate by boat between islands. I'd say probably Lanai, since it's close to three other islands and has a small population/density. Or depending on the size of your group, Kahoolawe since it's uninhabited (but curiously marked as red on the map).
I was thinking that if the military could get the zombie population pared down that Hawaii would be the best place to be. If the zombies are gone....unless they can swim from island to island you'd end up safe. Just put a bullet in the head of beloved grandma and grandpa because it's the new normal and you could get life going again. Things can grow on Hawaii and you can obviously fish off shore.
^Agreed. I'd say an island is certainly a better place to survive the ZA than the mainland. However, a boat would come in handy in case you have to evacuate. That being said, living on a boat sounds like a pretty smart idea to me - asuming that there are any boats left because most likely all the other survivors had the same idea . Since I live in Europe I would probably try to find a castle to live in. Very thick walls .
I remember reading an interview with Simon Pegg & Nick Frost who said the best idea would be a big sports stadium. As you could use the field to grow crops and there'd be plenty of room in all the surrounding building and its pretty secure. Only problem I see with that is they tend to be in very urban areas, so there's gonna be a major surrounded by zombies problem if you ever need to go on runs etc.
According to this, just over 35% of the households in Texas owns a gun - BTW I thought it would be higher than that - whereas the Lilly liver liberals in Hawaii only 6% own a firearm. Explains why Hawaiians would be in deep shit without a firearm or even access to get one to defend themselves against the zombies. Gun ownership stats That coupled with the fact that with the exception of Dallas, Houston, and Austin - most of Texas is kind of empty and it's one big ass state. I still don't get why Alaska would be such a tough place to survive the ZA. According to the same stats - nearly 60% of households in Alaska own a firearm, the highest in the US.
Yes, there is a LOT of open space and I'm fairly sure that the gun rates are higher than what people admit to. I think Alaska would be pretty hard to survive in once the power goes out and food shipments stop coming. It's not like there's a ton of stores there for one to pillage. Plus, in winter, you'd freeze to death. The bonus is the zombies would freeze, too.
I've been saying that for 4 years, specifically Cumberland Island, as it's big, sparcely populated already, mostly undeveloped, & with no bridges to it. It has fresh water, a number of buildings, a shore & plentiful wildlife About the only thing you'd have to worry about is hurricane season. Other than that, it's ZA Eden
Once you shot the initial zombies in the head, there would probably be very few zombies left in Alaska. And certainly the zombie population density would be next to nothing. If you're a survivor in Alaska, you're not worried about zombies killing you, you're worried about Alaska killing you. Which would eventually turn into a problem without stores being resupplied, etc. You might survive the first year or two in Alaska, but eventually you're going to make the decision to start heading south before the next winter hits. I would imagine that even back in the 1800's, even the most rugged of loners in Alaska were used to meeting up with other people for supplies occasionally.
That population map is pretty retarded. They gave a tad too much weight to gun ownership and density of Wal-Marts. Population density is BY FAR the biggest criteria. Anywhere near major cities, and much of the eastern seaboard would be a zombie wasteland fast. FAR too many people there, wal-mart or no, and once the ZA hits, it's usually an exponential thing. You'd have fully dead cities with the 'tidal waves' of survivors getting overtaken by more zombies as you get out of the cities. In the major areas, those waves overlap and the whole area's pretty much a gonner. California, you can basically just forget it. Population density, nowhere to go, sickness among the survivors... Alaska would be just fine, outside of the couple cities. RI may not be as bad off as they think, or at least not the actual island part. SO many boats to attempt escape on. Can forget Providence, but Newport may have a chance...
It's probable, but that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. You just have to be cautious about people you encounter Anybody who's already migrated to a coastal island like that will have to be people looking to be cutoff from not only zombies, but also what's left of humanity. You're unlikely to run across pillagers & marauders because in this island's case, there's nothing to pillage really, & it's tough to get to. You certainly won't run across cannibals, because they are cut off from the food supply So really, the only thing to be cautions about in going to a relatively undeveloped coastal island is that there may be some manner of dictatorship going on there, in which case, you either try to work it out, or move on. No matter who is there, they'll be isolationists, and likely looking to steer clear of trouble, both human & undead kinds, which is going to be easier to do in a defensible position like surrounded by water
Finally got caught up today. Great ending for the season. It will be interesting to see if Carol and Tyreese show up to save the others. As for the Alaska debate, it might be OK for the Zombie Apocalypse, but you'll want to get the hell out of there before winter if Vampires show up.
So far they're 0-for-two when it comes to settlements being as safe or what they appear to be. Woodbury had sinister things going on behind the curtain (but, all and all, it seemed like the residents there lived decent lives all things considered) and Terminus clearly isn't what it claimed to be. Seems it'd be easy at this point to not trust a location.