The Los Alamos National Laboratory is rapidly expanding as the U.S. nuclear arsenal is modernized, but the small town can’t accommodate employees.
LOS ALAMOS, N.M.—Weekends bring a brief respite and slower pace to the Los Alamos townsite in New Mexico, the birthplace of the atomic bomb nearly 80 years ago.
Silent mountains thick with Ponderosa pine surround the town where some of the nation’s best-kept military secrets reside.
The urban sidewalks are empty, except for the occasional tourist or dog walker, and many of the shops, restaurants, and office buildings are closed.
There’s no traffic on the road from Trinity Drive to Oppenheimer Drive.
But, it’s just a matter of time before Los Alamos townsite jumps back into action.
“You will see it on Monday,” said one resident, who lives in White Rock, 10 miles from the greenscaped Los Alamos urban center.
Sure enough, on Monday morning, Los Alamos townsite roars back to life as commuters arrive by the thousands. The population nearly doubles in this “census-designated place” of 13,460.
Cars line up at security checkpoints to enter the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the county’s biggest employer and the reason for the sudden increase in population.
Employees clear the first barriers, then move through more checkpoints to get to their jobs four days a week.
Many drove from residential areas across Los Alamos County (population 19,187) and as far away as Albuquerque, 96 miles south, and the state capital of Sante Fe, about 35 miles north.
There has always been a housing shortage in the county, local officials say, but the pressures are growing as LANL reaches peak employment at around 19,000. The lab hopes to begin offering round-the-clock shifts in 2025.
The Los Alamos Affordable Housing Plan approved in August said the “acute” housing shortage hurts the local economy and limits housing to those who can afford it.
The study also found that in 2021, nearly 55 percent of the LANL workforce lived outside the county.
“Over 9,300 people commuted in for work, and only 21.8 percent, or 2,200 people, commuted out of the county while living here,” the study said.
By Allan Stein
