BY ELLEN WALTON
Los Alamos

The irony of discussing and approving an “affordable housing plan” in Council Chambers built on a site that once housed many people in affordable apartment units is not lost on the older citizens of Los Alamos County. The apartments razed to build the relocated Municipal Building were nicknamed the “Concrete Caves”, and were not fabulous, but without them, Los Alamos has lost the opportunity to house many people who might have been able to walk to their jobs and stay in Los Alamos. 

The tract of land now contains the Bradbury Science Museum, offices, a credit union, and the “Palace of Malice” instead.  The razing of the apartment complexes came with one of the many, many iterations of the Los Alamos Downtown Master Plan and Council pandering to developers with drawings that look nothing like the reality coming after. 

If you have lived in Los Alamos for 30 years or more, you know how it goes:  Each Council action to control business and land in Los Alamos County is another step toward the community’s death.  Unless, of course, you like being run by Columbus Capital and Kroger and having LANL storage as your neighbor.