Talk:Los Alamos, New Mexico

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WikiProject Cities––US Guidelines

"While it is just a guideline and there are no requirements to follow it in editing, it contains some of the basic elements of a city article, as well as useful tips that would help to bring the article to good article or featured article status."

Los Alamos, though small in size, is significant! This page deserves more attention––the distinctive history and nature of this town should be preserved in a way that gives it special honor.Patrick Fisher 18:06, 3 May 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Patricksfisher2 (talk • contribs)

History Section Without Citations

While information in the history section of this article may be true, there are no citations for this information.
This article as a whole is vastly under-cited! Patrick Fisher 17:56, 3 May 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Patricksfisher2 (talk • contribs)

The time period before homesteading should be rewritten and/or moved because it gives general information about the population of the Pajarito Plateau rather than specific information about the area that is now Los Alamos. I think at least some of the information contained can remain, but simply written in a way that is more specific. I notice the Pajarito Plateau page lacks this information, so it should either be moved or added to that page.Patrick Fisher 15:53, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

Demographics

There are lots of stats in the demographics section, but there should be comparison with the larger region/state/country. This is significant because Los Alamos is demographically unique in comparison to the rest of New Mexico.Patrick Fisher 19:36, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

Formation of the mesas

It seems the mesas may be formed by the lava flowing out of the valles caldera. A google map satellite view seems to indicate this, rather than the glacial erosion theory mentioned in the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.121.139.226 (talk) 00:18, 24 April 2013 (UTC) "The Jemez Mountains are predominantly formed by the 18.7 Ma to ~50 ka Jemez volcanic field. Volcanic activity in the Jemez Mountains culminated with the formation of two geographically coincident calderas, the 1.61 Ma Toledo caldera and 1.25 Ma Valles caldera, both of which lie to the west...."

References

Photo of Downtown Los Alamos

I recently was downtown and I decided to take a photograph of Central Avenue. I put the photograph under the section where it says Skyline_image. Is this okay becuase Los Alamos doesn't have a skyline I am not completely sure, should it be placed there? Atomic City505 (talk) 03:10, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

Most definitely it's okay. Only a skyline picture should be there if there's a skyline picture available, but if one isn't available — especially if there's no skyline to get a picture of — there's nothing wrong with having another representative community picture there instead. Nyttend (talk) 03:13, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Nyttend I really wasn't sure if it should belong in that section! Atomic City505 (talk) 01:33, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

On a related note, the picture of Ashley Pond is badly out of date. The Municipal Building is gone and a new city jail has been constructed south of its former location. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yaush (talk • contribs) 15:47, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

War restrictions

Does anyone know what kind of restrictions were put on civilians travelling to or working in Los Alamos during WWII and the cold war? Could Los Alamos fit the description of a "Closed city"? Seabhcán 11:00, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I'm just jumping in here, without using the tutorial or sandbox first (no time tonite -- it's late), but since I grew up in Los Alamos during the early 50's, I can say that:

Yes, Los Alamos was a "closed city" in that not only did LASL (Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories) employees have to have a pass to get into their various work sites, but one had to have a pass verifying residency to show the security guards at the gates when entering the town. Traveling salespeople, etc., could obtain temporary passes. There weren't really any restrictions on lifestyle for civilians that I remember, except that certain areas in the surrounding canyons were fenced off and had limited access due to possible contamination from testing of high explosives, most or all of which were NON-nuclear (nuclear tests were conducted in or over the Pacific Ocean, mainly). There was another testing site (Jackass Flats) in Nevada.

During the war, employees and civilians were forbidden to reveal to outsiders the nature of the Manhattan Project ("Loose lips sink ships"), and after the war, employees were forbidden to reveal "classified" or "sensitive" information regarding weapons development or other "top secret" information. Certain jobs and access to certain sites required a "Q clearance" (security clearance) from the laboratory administration. In 1957 or '58, the town was "opened up" and anyone could enter without a pass. Passes were still required to get into the laboratory buildings, however. The guard gate buildings are still standing, but the actual lane barriers and booths across the road have been removed. The laboratory has always had its own security force separate from the Los Alamos Police Department.

A book was written by TaraShea Nesbit called "The Wives of Los Alamos" about the experiences of women in Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. I thought it was interesting. Could be worth a read if you're into historical fiction. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.194.113.232 (talk) 21:29, 22 March 2019 (UTC)

Photo does not do the town justice

The only photo displayed for this article captures one of the most unsightly areas in a very beautiful town. Since I will be in Los Alamos somtime this summer, I'll be sure to take some pictures, representing the real, Los Alamos.EnglishEfternamn^talk_contribs 22:37, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Do any of you currently live in the town? If not then why are you answering questions.

A more representative picture would show a group of middle-class, white, "suburban gangster" teenagers huffing paint in these "unsightly areas". What a wretched little town. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 167.219.88.140 (talk) 15:03, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

How long did you live in Los Alamos? Yaush (talk) 15:44, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

New historical material

Lots of good stuff added, but it needs citations and it was all one loooooong paragraph. I tried my hand at fixing the latter problem, but more polishing seems in order.

Also, there are a couple of dubious statements and some missing information. It would be good to know when homesteading began -- was this under Spanish colonial rule or U.S. rule? The statement that the price paid by the Army for the land during World War II was less that fair is an opinion, needs to be written as an opinion, and then cited to reliable sources expressing the opinion -- regardless of how plausible and likely to be correct the opinion seems. The statement that the location for White Rock was chosen because it was a "safe" distance from the lab needs a cite; I find it a bit dubious myself. My impression is that White Rock was located where it was located because there is precious little land outside the original four mesas that is flat enough for residential development and is not on tribal land. Yaush (talk) 05:36, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Coordinate error

{{geodata-check}}

The following coordinate fixes are needed for يكتب هذه الصفحة سامر كرم معاز مسيحي من قرية ربلة سورية الغرافيك مادة تتحمل درجة حرارة محدودة في المفاعلات القديمة وتتشقق ينصح سامر بخلط السوليفان 4 المدمج مع النيكل 7 تفاعل يصدر عنه مادة مصقولة تتحمل درجات حرارة عالية فوق 7000 فهرنهايت وننصح بصناعة المادة المصقولة النهائية جسور متراصة وصفوفة لكي تلف مع الجدران او صناعتها جدران على طريقة الجبس بورد الواح 5سم وتركيبها فوق سكك داخل المفاعلات مع تحيات سامر

—5.0.152.128 (talk) 11:53, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

I don't understand Arabic, but I ran the message above through Google Translate, and (while it's not clear what, if any, changes the poster is recommending with regard to the content of this article) it's clear that the message has nothing to do with the coordinates in the article. I'm therefore deactivating the {{geodata-check}} template; I've also redacted the poster's e-mail address. If anyone understands what the poster is trying to convey, they're welcome to respond below. Deor (talk) 11:49, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Bizarre technical details

In the History section, we find bizarre technical sentences like "The Jemez Mountains are predominantly formed by the 18.7 Ma to ~50 ka Jemez volcanic field." I don't know what that means, and I presume the average reader doesn't know, either. It would be nice if the technical numbers ("18.7 Ma") were either properly explained or replaced by something more generally informative. In any case, geologic information is not historical information, and perhaps the entire paragraph could be moved elsewhere. --Douglaspperkins (talk) 07:46, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

I deleted it all. Not only was it of questionable relevance there, it was also blatant plagiarism, a direct copy-and-paste from the abstract of the geology paper that it cited. For future reference, however, those numbers were ages in years: "Ma" is short for megaannus, or millions of years ago, while "ka" is short for kiloannus, or thousands of years ago. "~" means "approximately". --Colin Douglas Howell (talk) 21:32, 12 July 2016 (UTC)

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