Philly: Places to survive the zombie apocalypse

Lincoln Financial Field, South Philadelphia

This is it. You're trapped in the city, the undead are rampaging about and you need a place to hide. You can't get to your home and you've decided to band together with other people because there is safety in numbers (and more people to distract the undead away from you). Where do you go? 

There are a couple factors you're going to want to consider. It has to be defendable with big walls and strong doors. It needs to have a food supply, or at least close access to food. It needs to conceal you from the view of the undead. And last, it needs to have an exit strategy. Odds are you're going to be here for awhile, and when you run out of food (which you will) or the undead finally find a way in (which they will) you need a way to get out of there.

1. Sports Complex: The stadiums and arenas in South Philly may seem like a good idea, but there quite a few downsides to hiding out here. For one, Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Ballpark are open-air venues, and it is going to make it extremely difficult to keep out the legions of zombies. 

Try for the Wachovia Center or Spectrum, at least they're enclosed. You can easily hide out of view and they will both likely have a huge supply of food that they would sell at concerts or sporting events. The problem is an exit strategy. The complex is located at the bottom of what is essentially a peninsula. Most zombies traveling south between the two rivers are going to be funneled into this spot. Good luck leaving. Additionally, if a zombie outbreak occurs during an event or the stadiums are used as evacuation points or medical treatment centers, they will end up crawling with the undead. AVOID

Eastern State Penitentiary, Fairmount

2. The Gallery: It seems like a good idea at first. There is plenty of food to eat at various shops as well as Reading Terminal Market. Exits are plentiful and you can travel underground from about eighth street all the way to west of City Hall at Suburban Station, and even there you can jump onto the tracks and cross the river to 30th St. Station if need be. But the downside of so many exits is they make the place impossible to defend. AVOID (but maybe raid for food)

3. Eastern State Penitentiary: The place is basically a fortress. Meant to keep prisoners in, it would do a pretty solid job of keeping zombies out. They won't be able to see in and you can keep an eye on them from the guard tower. Unfortunately there's no food to be found inside and you would have to make expeditions to nearby markets. And there's no roof on the prison, so you have to hope they don't learn to climb. If they do bust in, it's about five or six blocks to the Schuylkill River and Boathouse Row, where you can steal a kayak and escape on the water. But it's this and many other benefits that makes the next location the best. 

Philadelphia Museum of Art

4: The Philadelphia Museum of Art: The museum looks like a castle perched atop a hill. It's built of stone and has secure doors to protect the valuable works of art inside. Zombies won't be able to see you inside and since it's right next to the river there will probably be less of them roaming around. There is a restaurant and cafe inside, which will feed you, but eventually you will have to venture out. There are also a few added benefits to ride out the return of the undead inside the museum. You have the high ground with a good view of the surrounding area and can see whether it's a good time to run to the Wawa or you should wait it out. Another huge benefit is weapons. It can't hurt to have some extra swords, axes and suits of armor laying around. 

You won't be able to stay here forever. But it's the best possible landmark to hold up until you're ready to continue on to a safer, less populated area.