Foreword:
If there's already a thread about this existing, pardon me for duplicating it (I did search for it but didn't find much, only some mentions of Louisville's in-lore state in comments).
The suggestion:
According to in-game news reports (TVs and radios) Louisville appears to be zombie-free before around day 4 of the game (if started on July 9). My suggestion is to make it zombie-free before said day, and possibly make the "safe zone" start as early as the bridge over the river (sorry, I don't know its name) way before the actual city.
The implementation:
Now comes the part I suspect will largely make it never be seriously considered.
A few implementation suggestions if it's considered:
1: Making it occupied by the military who will shoot on sight (or shout a warning as they should according to in-game lore, which says "first they shout a warning, then snipers shoot"). Perhaps the military could be seen on the bridge over the river and then pull out on the day of the city being infested. I think it's a rather fair idea as it doesn't involve populating the city/areas past the river with civilians.
2: Same as 1 but with actual events like the military apprehending you (maybe something like in the radio transmissions where they take a few people into custody and after they wake up, only a dead soldier can be seen with the rest gone and those people's cells open).
3: Make it so that the bridge over the river is blocked off (probably by some unbreakable fences like the ones found on Louisville's northern bridge that get destroyed later on when the player isn't watching) until the city's overrun date. (by far I think it's the easiest way of implementing and is also lore-friendly)
