As far as surviving in cold climates without electricity, people did that for a very long time and I'm sure a borderline resourceful person could survive through the winter. I'm from one of those areas and all you need is dry wood to make a fire. As far as it making an intersting show, probably not, just like the island idea, once the threat has been mitigated by such factors as freezing weather or isolation,it just becomes a drama that has nothing to do with the dead rising.
Now, take that idea and set it in New York City, which is a cold climate, but also has miles and miles of dark, underground tunnels, and people crammed together in a relatively small place, and you have something that could be very tense and scary. Would AMC cough up the money for the budget that show would need? No way.
So since we rule out the above options and I think the smart thing is to make it as different from the origial series as they can, I would think that either a military base or a militarized zone (as was mentioned earlier) with reusable sets and such is the most likely possibility.
There is one other possibility- an anthology series that follows different groups for one season at a time.
), but I'd run into trouble in the long term since I don't really know how to can meat, fruits and veggies. I can dehydrate them, but canning has always been beyond my desire to learn. So I either find a husky woman with those skills to go with, or a booksmart nerd who's more capable than I and trade skill sets. 
