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Jason, I hope this is not message to me…In fact, I worked as civil engineer, architectural designer, urban planning. I love art, love sketching, drawing..I also love AutoCAD, parametric design, love engineering grading
I never see those things separately. Because each field has strength and weakness. And it also depends on personalities and…[Read more]

Well the thing is, I’m self employed.  And I intend to keep it that way.  Not that I don’t really appreciate your comments, because I do, and you are right.  Commercial jobs do require a license, but residential does not. And I am definitely not interested in work where I have to be the lowest bidder to get the job.  I will not compromise my des…[Read more]

Back in the day when you used to have to do this part of the exam by hand in a hot room with shaky tables, I used the PPI books to prepare and found them most helpful in that they not only help you with content, but tell you WHAT the reviewer is actually looking for, and it is really nit-pickey like ensuring your contours blend into existing…[Read more]

It depends on what kind of work you want to do. If you want to go into any kind of commercial work (not residential design) you will need a license to have the ability to stamp permit and construction drawings. If you do very high end residential, a license adds credibility, and again, you may need it to stamp submission drawings for structures…[Read more]

Thanks for your response.  I have been doing exactly what you suggest, and am know here in Santa Barbara as a darn good designer of high end residential projects. The last one I completed in March of this year was a 5 million dollar garden, with huge water works.  I designed every inch of 2 acres and then spent a year as project manager on the i…[Read more]

Thank you Mr Wainner!  I, too, am proficient at grading and drainage.  So it does irk me that the test has never been able to determine that.  some of the vignettes in the past required me to size underground pipe, determine soil coverage over pipe, protect view corridors, and build mounds all in the same vignette.  The likely hood of having to…[Read more]

Hi Robert,
Thank you for your beautiful reply. That is a nice tale to tell about becoming a Landscape Architect.
I agree that Landscape Architecture has many roots in Europe, even if some of the oldest and most fantastic manufactured landscapes ever conceived blossomed in places like the Middle East and China.However, Landscape Architecture as a…[Read more]

I do not think they would try to keylog my computer (too advanced), and I ran a detector a couple of times here and there (nothing detected). Now, as you said, only way to feel really comfortable seems to be encryption. I will definitely look into it now, as it doesnt seem to affect performance.
Cloud based work sounds interesting (novel concept t…[Read more]

Thanks for your input Jason, meets my expectations about portable appz : just not functional yet.

I already have my custom cad  files (templates, plotstyles, patterns etc…) on my external drive, works great 🙂

I share some of the same sentiment as denise.
I have recently gotten around to taking and passjng the exam. I woukd suggest, especially being a new grad, for you to focus on design, design thinking, and graphic communication skills for the next few years. 
I have found that everyones in a rush to ‘manage’ and delegate. Clients dont pay for…[Read more]

Hi,
I have been a landscape designer for 20 + years.  I started taking the LARE in 2007.  I passed, over the course of 4 years, 4 out of the 5 sections.  The grading and drainage section I still have not passed, after 8 attempts.  This is not only humiliating, but expensive.  I consider myself to be an intelligent woman,and I do know how to do a…[Read more]

Sorry you feel that I’m misinformed.
I took the exam 2 years ago (ABCDE format, though 1=A and 2=B), passed w/o any problems in the process or exams – maybe CT has gotten it smoothed out.  Having seen the changes coming I did my research (spoke with CLARB and atate ASLA board members and co-workers for advice on whether to wait or plow through;…[Read more]

You are correct, I defaulted to expectations of a typical US firm when it comes to computer security.  There are a lot of smaller firms that operate in sort of the same way you describe (ie, no computer security with access levels and permissions and such).  With administrator rights on a machine, you would have the ability to install whatever p…[Read more]

If you are eligible and are capable of passing a test and can afford to do so, just get licensed; it should not be a problem unless you have test-taking anxiety issues and/or have not been exposed to or learned much in your first few years practicing. There have been at least a few crazy-bad horror stories about the awfulness of sitting for the…[Read more]

I always pack a nickel-plated .45 in a diamond-studded shoulder holster to match my glamorous cape and beret ensemble whenever I meet with civil engineers to avoid being dissed.

It helps to either have a lot of cash and land or have friends that do.  Having capital is a key component of developing.

Any portable drive will be PAINFULLY slow to try to run programs off of, if the system would let you do it at all. And booting from a portable drive isn’t as easy as you think. You have to go into the BIOS and change the settings, again, if the computer will let you boot off of USB. Your CAD and any image software will grind to a halt if you try…[Read more]

I think I’m going to stick with M-Color. Have found it more stable than Impression – and it seems to be well supported…unlike Impression.
The closed polylines aren’t a concern as I would be creating them anyway to use in the hatch plans when the project gets to documentation phase. Yes layering and draw order are key.
Paul Stafford

Thanks Chris for your detailed answer, much appreciated. I will check info on the programs you mentioned.  
Thank you very much about your input on the portable appz, seems like it’s just not the way to go in my situation. As an aside, the program I use now does not have the flaws you mentioned, of course that wouldn’t be secure at all. 🙂

I…[Read more]

Wow. Comparing those scores to the previous format, it appears the new version is (dare I say it?) easier. It seems that candidates are figuring out how to maneuver through section 4, though even the first time test takers scored better on 4 than people did routinely on section E. It would be interesting to hear CLARB’s opinion on the increasing…[Read more]