Los Alamos, New Mexico


Los Alamos is a town in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as the development and creation place of the atomic bomb—the primary objective of the Manhattan Project by Los Alamos National Laboratory during World War II. The town is located on four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau, and has a population of 12,019. It is the county seat and one of two population centers in the county known as census-designated places ; the other is White Rock.

History

The ruins of permanent Puebloan settlements, such as those located in nearby Bandelier National Monument and Tsankawi, and numerous other sites such as cliff dwellings indicate that the area has been inhabited during various eras since around 1150 AD. The first settlers on the plateau are thought to be Keres speaking Native Americans around the 10th century. Around 1300, Tewa settlers immigrated from the Four Corners Region and built large cities but were driven out within 50 years by Navajo and Apache raids and by drought.
In the late 19th century, homesteaders utilized the land for ranching. Most homesteaders built simple log cabins that they only lived in during warm weather to feed livestock. Many of the homesteaders later moved down to the warmer Rio Grande Valley. In 1917, homesteader Harold H. Brook sold part of his land and buildings to Ashley Pond II, a businessman from Detroit who founded the Los Alamos Ranch School. The area was used to teach young men basic ranching and other outdoor survival skills.
In 1943, during World War II, the United States Department of War exercised eminent domain over the Ranch School and all remaining homesteads in the area so that the relatively isolated location could be used for the secretive Manhattan Project, which ultimately developed the world's first nuclear weapons. Facilities for research and development were quickly built and scientists and engineers from all over the world were assigned to the project, however all information about the town and project was held secretively away from public awareness. Los Alamos was referred to under the code name "Site Y" by military personnel, and was known only as "The Hill" by many in nearby Santa Fe. The specific location of the project and all of its residents was also concealed by designating its mailing address as PO Box 1663, Santa Fe, NM. All incoming truckloads were falsely labeled as common items in order to conceal the true nature of their contents, and any outbound correspondence by those working and living in Los Alamos was censored by military officials. Not until after the bombing of Hiroshima was information about the purpose of the Manhattan Project released to the public.
In the years after World War II, the laboratory was established as a research government facility under the Department of Energy, and is now known as Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Geography

Los Alamos is located in northern New Mexico between the Rio Grande and the eastern rim of the Valles Caldera on the Pajarito Plateau, approximately to the northwest of Santa Fe. The elevation at the post office is and total land area is.
The Los Alamos Townsite and White Rock are located on flat mesa tops separated by steep canyons. This location was chosen for its relative inaccessibility to help protect the secret activities of the Manhattan Project.
The town of Los Alamos was built on four mesas—Barranca Mesa, North Mesa, Los Alamos Mesa and South Mesa—along with the connecting communities at the base of the mountain. Los Alamos National Laboratory occupies half of South Mesa, Two Mile Mesa, Frijoles Mesa, Mesita de Buey and several nearby areas in the region. White Rock lies at the top of White Rock Canyon.
Much of Los Alamos County is within the Española Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest.

Climate

Los Alamos has a borderline cool semi-arid climate /humid continental climate with four distinct seasons. Summer days are moderately warm in the 70s and 80s, but infrequently reach.

Wildlife and vegetation

Los Alamos' geographical location causes its wildlife and vegetation to be diverse compared to surrounding areas in the state. "The variation in elevation creates precipitation and temperature gradients that support a wide diversity of plant communities..." There are six different plant communities within the county; each is home to unique flora and fauna.
Ponderosa pine trees are the most common trees at the elevation of Los Alamos. Common shrubs in the area include sagebrush, Gambel oak, and wild rose.
Black bears, elk, mule deer, bobcats, gray foxes, skunks and chipmunks are examples of mammals living in the area.
"Over 200 species of birds have been reported" in the Pajarito Ornithological Survey conducted by LANL.
Among these are broad-tailed hummingbirds, hairy woodpeckers, zone-tailed hawks, common ravens, western bluebirds, and great horned owls.

Wildfires

s have affected the county, but the most destructive to the townsite was the Cerro Grande Fire of May 2000, which caused an estimated $1 billion in damages and destroyed more than 400 homes. The town was evacuated for eight days. The Federal Emergency Management Agency built temporary housing on North Mesa for those who were displaced by the fire. Though there was no loss of life, other effects include damage to LANL facilities, flash-flooding, and erosion.
The Las Conchas Fire of June 26, 2011 burned about three times as many acres and also prompted evacuation of Los Alamos, but there was no damage to property in Los Alamos.It was the biggest wildfire New Mexico had endured.
Wildfire Burned areaCause
Water Canyon Fire trash/construction debris fire
La Mesa Fire human-caused
Dome Fire abandoned campfire
Oso Complex Fire arson
Cerro Grande Fire controlled burn
Las Conchas Fire Power line

Wildfires have altered plant communities in the area. Plant species are migrating to cover burn areas.

Environmental remediation

Over two thousand sites in the area have been determined to have been impacted as a result of past activities at LANL. The location of these sites have been identified throughout the county, and are primarily on DOE property. Contaminated sites vary widely in significance. Corrective action and environmental restoration has been deemed necessary for certain areas; LANL takes part in this process. Some residents have voiced concern about a lack of public participation and opportunity to comment on the clean-up schedule and funding.

Demographics

The current population is 12,019 with a population density of. The median age is 40 years. 24.8% of the people are under the age of 18, 4.8% are ages 18 to 24, 29.2% are ages 25 to 44, 28.2% are ages 45 to 64, and 12.9% are ages 65 years or older. For every 100 females, there were 101.3 males.

Race

Los Alamos is demographically unique compared to its surrounding counties and the state as a whole. Over 35% of the population of surrounding counties and the state of New Mexico are Hispanic or Latino, while only about 15% of Los Alamosans are Hispanic or Latino. The white and especially the Asian populations of Los Alamos are significantly higher than the rest of New Mexico.

Culture

Notable people

The geography of Los Alamos lends itself to several sports and recreational activities. Skiing is possible on 10,440 ft. Pajarito Mountain between November and April. Snowshoeing is possible at Valles Caldera National Preserve and other locations weather permitting. On November 10, 2015, the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Energy announced the establishment of Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Los Alamos, along with units in Hanford, Washington and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Los Alamos is host to several sporting events:
Los Alamos is the fifth-fastest-growing city in New Mexico, after Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Las Cruces, and Ruidoso.

Income and poverty

The median household income in Los Alamos is $98,458, and per capita income is $54,067. Income is significantly higher than the rest of New Mexico. Los Alamos has the highest millionaire concentration of any US city, with 12.4 percent of households having at least $1 million in assets. This is a result of chemists, engineers, and physicists working at LANL since the Manhattan Project. Only 6.6% of people are below the poverty line; half the rate of the United States, and one-third the rate of New Mexico. As of January 2015, there were zero homeless individuals.

Families and housing

There are 5,249 households and an average household size of 2.23 people. There are 5,863 housing units, and the median value of owner-occupied housing units is $281,500. Median gross rent is $921.
31.4% of households have children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.4% are married couples living together, 6.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 34.0% are non-families. 29.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older.

Principal employers

is the area's largest employer with approximately 10,500 employees, and is foundational to the economy of Los Alamos, with an annual budget of about $2.45 billion. Approximately 40% of the laboratory's employees live in Los Alamos, while the remainder commute from Santa Fe, Española, Taos, and Albuquerque. About 66% of the people who work in the national laboratories commute daily to the lab; some take the Atomic City Transit, Rail Runner Express, use the Park and Ride, or carpool with other employees.
Other major employers in Los Alamos include Smith's Food and Drug, Los Alamos National Bank, Los Alamos Medical Center, National Security Technologies, Los Alamos County, Los Alamos Public Schools, and Del Norte Credit Union.

Transportation

Los Alamos provides several transportation services:

Roads

Los Alamos is relatively isolated, and can only be accessed from NM 4 from the south and NM 502 from the east.
NM 502 sees significantly more traffic because it connects with US 84/285, which delivers access to several Pueblo communities between Española and Santa Fe. Approximately 10,000 commuters use NM 502 daily. NM 502 begins at Pojoaque, and traverses San Ildefonso Pueblo and the Rio Grande.
Interstate 25 is the nearest major interstate highway, and passes through or near Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Denver.
There are three access roads between White Rock and Los Alamos—Main Hill Road, Jemez Road and Pajarito Road. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, Pajarito Road has been restricted to LANL badge holders for security reasons.

Transit systems

, located on the eastern edge of Los Alamos, is the only airport in the county. The main source of activity is from small private aircraft, with intermittent commercial commuter service.

Health care

The 47-bed acute-care facility known as Los Alamos Medical Center is the only hospital in Los Alamos and is a LifePoint Health hospital. The hospital provides "complete medical, surgical, obstetrical, pediatric, emergency, and diagnostic services" and employs about 300 Northern New Mexicans.
Medical Associates of Northern New Mexico is a group of medical providers that offers family medicine, internal medicine, cardiology, nephrology, and endocrinology among its many services.
During the Cold War, workers at LANL were in contact with radiation and other toxins, causing many of these individuals illness. A non-profit organization called Cold War Patriots provides these individuals and their families with information about the healthcare benefits available to them.

VLBA node

The radio telescope located in Los Alamos is one of ten dishes composing the Very Long Baseline Array.

City and regional partnerships

Sister city

Los Alamos maintains sister city status with:
In June 2016 a collaboration was initiated between the County of Los Alamos, the Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation and the Los Alamos National Laboratory's Feynman Center for Innovation and Community Relations and Partnerships Office, to open a private, non-profit coworking space called ProjectY cowork Los Alamos, which helped create educational programs for the two cities to learn more about each other's culture and communities.