trivard676
Have you ever been to Detroit? At one of the locations I work out of, I get a beautiful view of the Detroit skyline from across the Detroit River.
However Motown is not always a pretty sight, especially when you factor in the fact that the city is broke, on the verge of receivership to the state of Michigan, and some places are just a little bit scary. Taking a drive down some of the older, neglected parts of the D gives you an appreciation for all the things that you have. Many of the areas of the city are run down and decrepit. Some might see it as the ruins of a once great city, fuelling the world’s auto industry and pumping out musical sensations.
Mark Siwak sees the city as the perfect backdrop for a zombie-themed amusement park.
The basic idea of Z-World (ugh…really, Mark? Really?) is that visitors would enter the park, which would be an area of abandoned buildings, and be chased by zombies. The survivors would have to band together to find a safe haven for the night, taking shelter in some of those abandoned buildings and foraging for supplies. While presumably…fighting off zombies. As the game progressed throughout the night, more zombies would attack and chase after visitors, adding to the post-apocalyptic free-for-all.
Siwak claims that the idea for an apocalyptic theme park came to him when he heard Detroit mayor Dave Bing’s suggestion of cutting services to under-used portions of the city to save costs. Yes, Bing’s idea is essentially to abandon parts of the city.
Of course these abandoned, burned out buildings that populate many areas of the city wouldn’t be dangerous, per se. The buildings would be purchased and be made safe for people to actually enter, let alone make it through the night.
Detroit blogger Sarah Cox criticized the entire idea, writing that “it sounds a lot like all that fun we had during the 1960s race riots.” She also said that “It’s nice to know Z Land is finally going to capitalize on our love of adrenaline rushes and nostalgia. Now even visitors from the burbs can ‘wonder if they will make it through the night.'” It sounds like Sarah Cox is the most fun person in the world. However she’s not the only one, as the YouTube page is filled to the brim with comments criticizing the idea.
Despite how it might initially appear, Siwak claims that the idea came to him not out of hate, but a love for the city he grew up in.
I don’t want this to be viewed as ripping on Detroit. This would bring jobs. An interest. I would just like to see Detroit resurrected to its former grandeur.
Currently, Siwak is only about six grand into his $145,000 goal at indiegogo. Help spread the word!
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