Surviving the Bellingham Zombie Apocalypse

By Christina Gonzales

EGEO 452 Final Project

Background	Methods	Results	Conclusion	Maps	Portfolio

Significance

Due to the hard to predict nature of zombies, planning for a widespread outbreak can be difficult. Any planning that is done should be taken with a grain of salt, because any building can be overrun. While there is no absolute safe haven during a zombie apocalypse some places are better for hiding and holding out than others. Using Bellingham as the extent allowed for an in depth analysis of each building in Bellingham. The criteria based analysis allowed for detailed emergency planning to be done by communities or individuals.

The results of the analysis say that, not surprisingly, rural communities are the best due to their remoteness from population centers. A farm offers supplies as well as a defendable area. Within urban areas schools scored the highest because of their thick walls, supplies to feed students, and the lack of zombies inside. Within the Very High survival probability apartments and multistory houses had nearly identical scores and represent enclosed homey areas with a decent amount of basic needs. For the most part the lowest scoring buildings are ones that people might flock to in the chaos. Going to the police station church or hospital will only increase the opportunity to run into the infected.

By averaging the survival rate by neighborhood it gives a sense of overall safety (figure X). All but 2 neighborhoods fall within the ±1 of the average rating of 6. It is not surprising the Central Business District and WWU have by far the lowest safety rating of the neighborhoods since commercial areas only have a safety rating of 4, and college campus buildings have a safety rating of 3. In contrast, the primarily residential areas such as Barkley and Roosevelt have the highest ratings of 6.7.

Recommendations

During a zombie invasion the best advice is to head out of town. But if the roads are jammed and the population of infected is too high to travel, focus on finding a defendable area with a lot of food and water. Sometimes a multistory house might be the best bet. If possible a school or apartment building might be better for long term survival. Avoid areas of high density. Make sure to have plenty of supplies and weapons.

Future studies

This project is limited because it only focuses on the city of Bellingham and surrounding areas which allows for a detailed analysis in a limited area. The building classification is based on zoning data which sometimes allows specific facilities to be put under an umbrella of the zoning. For example my house is zoned as an apartment but it is in fact a multistory house. In the future, it would be interesting to apply a less detailed analysis to a bigger study area such as Washington State or the US. In my research I discovered this web map and was extremely impressed with the extent that was used. It would be interesting to apply my building analysis to his map that accounts for what appears to be population or population density.