Surviving in the event of a zombie uprising

First of all, I'm in a much better place now than I was in college. Heavily populated urban areas are clearly a bad place to be stuck during such an event (as evidenced by: this ). It would seem to me your chances of survival increase the less densely populated area you live in. Again, there is some evidence for this in other areas; pandemic simulation software such as those used to predict how the avian flu would spread, indicates that isolated areas are completely likely to survive intact.

Clearly, being home instead of in a college dorm full of zombies = epic win! 

One survival strategy that I've thought of while still in college is boosting myself up and climbing inside the walls: the crawlspace above the ceiling tiles. College doors are not reinforced; and any doors that are not reinforced can be considered to be useless for survival. If I get in between the ceilings, I can crawl around without exposing myself and look for other survivors and more importantly, food. 

Getting onto the roof is also a great plan if you know the building supers. I didnt, so that was not an option for me.

Whereas my parents house: it is much less safe actually. The entire ground floor and basement are compromised: nothing but glass windows and shoddy doors. That only leaves the upstairs; but the staircase up is wide and can not be barricaded. In fact, I think barricade-construction is a futile activity altogether. A zombie is just going to stand there and whale away; its not like it has another appointment to eat your neighbors. Its got all the time in the world and a barricade is not going to stop anyone. (Plus, I'm terrible with hammers.)

That only leaves: the attic and the roof. The roof can be gotten to through the upstairs windows. Its probably not the best choice, but at least you're high up and can survey the carnage.  The attic has sort of a hidden door that you need to open that pulls down a staircase; if you don't know its there, you won't notice it. However, theres nothing in the attic; no food, no lights.

The area I live in isn't highly populated but there are at least a few dozen people within a few hundred feet of me. All potential ravenous zombies! Unfortunately the roads out are very small and are likely to be clogged up. Hell, if it rains too hard, the roads are flooded. About a mile away is a much larger stretch of highway; along with more structurally sound building. In particular, theres 2 buildings back-to-back that I've scoped out. One is a liquer store run by this asian family. They don't have windows and have metal shutters that they secure the entrance with. The building is concrete and has a roof from which to observe. The other is a bike shop that is on the ground floor but does not have any windows. The advantage there is that they have welding supplies and bikes. The same building also has a pawn shop with guns for sale. Both are good places to bunker down: you'll have food and transportation in case you need to leave. Unfortunately, its surrounded with many houses and sees a lot of traffic, but if I ever get out of my house alive, I'd probably try to get inside one of the two places.

Because of the bad road situation, I'd probably have to run to get there from my house. Its about 1.5miles or so; through suburbian neighborhoods. I can't imagine ever making it there alive.