What mall would you go to hide during a zombie apocalypse? For movie buffs, you might say the Monroeville Mall located outside of Pittsburgh (where the original “Dawn of the Dead” was filmed). However, according to a new ranking, based on eight key factors, two malls in the Garden State made the Top 10 for offering great chances of survival: Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus and American Dream in East Rutherford.
Millcreek Mall near Erie, Pennsylvania, offers the best chances.
The findings, pulled together by JeffBet, scored each mall based on its demand, infection risk, shelter suitability, food provisions, weapon access, medicine access, mental stimulation and chance of rescue in the event of a “The Last of Us”-scale infection.
So, while HBO’s series recently came to an end, many of us were left wondering whether we could survive a zombie apocalypse, and what our plan would be.
The “research” assigned major shopping malls a survival score out of 10, based on how they compare across the eight key metrics.
And the ideal mall to either be stranded in or to run to in the event of an outbreak, Millcreek Mall, racked up a survival score of 7.7 out of 10 — while the worst place to end up, Alana Moana Center in Honolulu, scored 3.9 out of 10.
Westfield Garden State Plaza scored a 5.9, while American Dream scored a 5.6.
Millcreek Mall scored well across all eight factors, but came out particularly high for infection risk, access to medicine and chance of rescue — arguably, some of the biggest benefits.
Overall, Millcreek Mall has a low daily footfall despite its size, boasts an on-site pharmacy and is only a 13-minute walk away from a hospital — giving visitors a good chance of survival.
Here are the Top 10 malls to increase chances of survival in a zombie apocalypse:
- Millcreek Mall, Erie, Pennsylvania;
- Lakewood Center, Lakewood, California;
- King of Prussia Mall, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania;
- Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota;
- Palisades Center, West Nyack, New York;
- Westfield Garden State Plaza, Paramus;
- Westfield Valley Fair, San Jose, California;
- Aventura Mall, Aventura, Florida;
- American Dream, East Rutherford;
- Sawgrass Mills, Sunrise, Florida.
The worst-scoring malls, in addition to Alana Moana Center, include the Galleria in Houston, Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois, and Roosevelt Field in Garden City, New York.
Generally speaking, the area in which American malls most need to improve in came out as access to medicine, as many don’t have on-site pharmacies that could prove crucial in the event of a zombie apocalypse.
