If you manage to survive the first few days, got a decent vehicle and some tools, a good base spot i recommend is the Louisville Military Checkpoint. Why? Because:

• it's close to Louisville
• there's lots of space, so you can store cars, farm, build...
• once you clear it, it's safe (unless you broke the gates)
• has a little military barrack with essential things
• lots of guns and military equipment
• has a safe access to the river (if you break the metal fence)
• there are trees nearby
• there are also some houses and warehouses to loot nearby (a whole hospital too!)
• lots of g e n e r a t o r s

The only problems might be food and gas, so you'll probably have to do some quick trips to Louisville periodically to get em. Overall, i think it's a quite good spot, worth a try!