IC HISTORY to uphold the party-town mentality. The concentration of thousands of people in high-occupancy house rentals, large apartment complexes and poorly zoned residential neighborhoods helps normalize this attitude by creating drinking enclaves. These zombie-box apartments, rentals and whole neighborhood blocks breed a social obliviousness that borders on contempt and takes the form of beer zombie marches, black-outs, break-ins, fights and excessive after-hour revelry. So what are the consequences? Certain neighborhoods are greatly affected. While the downtown is obvious, there are neighborhoods where zombies roam in mass: the Old North End, Goosetown, College Green and South Van Buren. The majority of beer zombies cause little trouble. They are a small nuisance, perhaps, by crashing the wrong party, being a navigational hazard or contributing to the local color--something to remark about or laugh at from the porch. Conversations with local residents have described encountering beer zombies lost around Oak Grove Cemetery. The more serious stories tell of beer zombies wandering into private homes, or
insistently pounding on their doors late at night. So far the zombies are winning. Our party town ranking is at its historical climax--if you happened to miss the recent headlines, the University of Iowa is the number one party school in the nation according to the Princeton Review. Due to cultural lag and official process, the city’s zoning and enforcement are years behind. Ever more zombie-box complexes rise each year while it seems self-indulgence and entitlement are at an all-time high. Neighborhoods are under zombie siege until winter comes and they thin out again.
Marlin R. Ingalls is a professional archaeologist, historian and architectural historian within Iowa’s Office of the State Archaeologist. He is a member of the state historical society of Iowa’s Technical Advisory Network and former member of the Iowa’s State Nomination Review Committee, which reviews nominations for listing on the national register of historic places. He is also a consultant specializing in helping preservationists and communities evaluate, document and restore their historic buildings, neighborhoods and other historic resources.
EARLY ZOMBIES>> Students dine in Currier Hall, 1910. Old Iowa Stadium (below) between Burlington St. and Iowa Avenue on the Iowa River.
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