The County Council in Los Alamos, New

The County Council in Los Alamos, New Mexico, unanimously approved a master plan for downtown Los Alamos, which could nearly triple the amount of commercial space. The plan was generated in a 2000 charrette led by Moule & Polyzoides Architects and Urbanists of Pasadena California, and supplies strategies for moving toward mixed-use development and a more clearly defined town center. Current downtown zoning does not allow mixing of uses within buildings. The master plan proposes a north-south retail main street anchored by a performing arts center, as well as courtyard housing and an office campus for the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Under the plan, which is more of a framework than a mandate, the county would invest in infrastructure to support infill development. One possible strategy is for the county to increase developable commercial space by building parking garages to replace the surface parking that dominates downtown. First, however, the county will have to rewrite its development code.