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Thinking it through, NCA is absolutely right.

if youre even considering the Public Policy degree, LA is not for you. Do that one.

It really depends on the area of practice.  There are opportunities year-round, but I’ve always heard and observed through numbers of job postings that late winter/early spring is the peak of hiring as most firms are busiest over the summer since that’s when most construction happens.  From about Thanksgiving to New Year’s is usually pretty dead b…[Read more]

I had to blink when I read Coordinates “you can easily get massive perks into your account in no time.” My perspective is that maybe you can CONTRIBUTE on large-scale projects IF you land a position within a LARGE firm. What exactly most impacts the environment will not necessarily be in project scale, and there is always a danger of large scale…[Read more]

To me, landscape is not art, but more craft. The path essentially just means circulation, and again, to me, that should be dominant over style or other decorative elements. If you like to think of your landscapes like paintings, Jason, good for you. I don’t find that particularly useful. For me, the design is in service to the users and the…[Read more]

Interns are just a way for cheap labor!! The large firms disguise it as some sort of glamerous learning experience, but it benefits them more than the student. When you obtain your degree, hired as a regular employee and given a business card. Only then are you no longer an intern. Enjoy the current pay rate. You won’t make over $55k anytime soon.…[Read more]

Nice last paragraph, Craig. Finally, you’re coming around and telling these delusional students the true profession of LA. How many designers and firms ACTUALLY work on these “large scale projects” that will save humanity and environment? This is the problem I have with the Universities. They are selling this boy the fantasy of this profession.…[Read more]

The freedom of mind, expression of interest, the freedom of design and other artistic brain farts are one side. The Client’s wish and vision is another side.
Socio- and other administrative enforced constrains, rules, and regulations are jet another.
Feasibility makes another side of the medal.
Cost- benefit is the side of value engineering.…[Read more]

Thank you Toby.

Regarding pay for an intern…
 
I’ve currently been interning for 9 months on my year long internship that’s required by Purdue University.
 
I make $12/hr here in Indiana, but it really depends on the employer.  A classmate went to Boston and is making $18/hr, while another is on the beach in Florida making $10/hr (which is a joke).
 
just some info…

Path is but a regulating line…one of many. It can create, be influenced by, or owns it entire existence to regulating lines, which are all derived from some sort of structure, man-made or natural. Keep in mind that regulating lines are not always created by built structure, but view axes, a line of hills or mountains, and even topographic l…[Read more]

The biggest impact is made when YOU yield a different result than the PERSON YOU DISPLACE. Public policy is much less impacted by any single individual than is design work simply by the nature of how it comes about. A person designing on the land does not have total control, but is right at the point where the rubber meets the road.
 
The next…[Read more]

First of all, LOL at Bob’s statement about kids. Your dilemma is a no-brainer to me for a couple reasons I think. I began my schooling doing Environmental Sociology and realized the entire knowledge base is just rhetorical data gathering in order to influence the actual policy makers. In summary, I got very easily discouraged by the seemingly…[Read more]

Actually, while thinking about this, I remembered that Ian McHarg would say that the first step is to determine what sort of ecological system your landscape is before you start working with it, with the purpose of that thought process being that you go with the existing system, rather than fight it..Roadways are usually floodplain type…[Read more]

I’d like to think that after at least 4 years of a professional education we would all have evolved a pretty good understanding of creating order in the landscape. It all stems from the design process which is not something that can be taught in a few paragraphs or a single presentation.
The process can be outlined and described as a concept, but…[Read more]

It is a great idea to design a stall that can precisely represent your business nature, and I am sure this particular approach will aid the business owners to attract their targeted customers. 

I would just recommend you to make sure to put only the good, self explanatory stuff. You are adding it to create a positive impact on the employers, so be sure that you do it in the right way. 

That is, indeed, a tough choice. In the end, you’ll have only limited say in how much effect you can  have. A landscape architect in the right firm, who gets the right kind of work can make a big difference. But that same person may just as easily end up spending years designing new developments that merely replace Nature with “sustainably…[Read more]

Yikes! (amen).