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I find the health benefits that a good design can afford one of the most compelling things that attracted me to landscape architecture. I am drawn more to the practical benefits of good design…not so much design for design sake. I know there is a place for that as well…for art, just for the sake of art. I have always loved using well designed…[Read more]

Melanie,

I just got off the phone with David Gregory of Colorado ASLA and we discussed this very point. We will be taking registrations for the E class through Wednesday of this week. Please contact David directly regarding late registration.

Ray

Wasn’t one of the keynote speakers at a recent ASLA conference (I’m thinking DC) a medical researcher who pointed out the growing percentage of topics at medical conferences centering on urban design issues?  Public health researchers seem to know how to do the research on health and the built environment, not sure why there aren’t a lot more…[Read more]

Parents are saved from walking their little kids to school here by walking buses.  Different adults each day, though maybe the same collection as you always get inactive folk in any group, collect the children from their doors and they are walked to school in company.  How the adults are qualified to do this I don’t know, some adults seem unable t…[Read more]

Hmm, I actually know plenty of assistant and associate profs. who only have MLAs (though generally post-prof., so MLA IIs or MLAUD). What they’ve told me is that you really have to have breadth in your very specific area of focus, so having publications (this seems to be key), having competitions under your belt, working for a firm, having…[Read more]

You pretty much need a PhD for anything other than an adjunct nowandays even with academia. Which means you will still need another job besides. Its about “how many PhDs per student” stats, not the qualifications of the professors.
I agree in trying to get where a large concentration of LA offices are. DC has a ton (mostly around Alexandria, VA)…[Read more]

Here is an LA economic forecast.
1. Europe will continue to provide economic stresses on the US markets, thanks to Spain, Portugal, Italy. Greece, and to a lesser extent, France. Major political upheaval in countries like Greece or Spain due to severe budget cuts will cause further instability. Meaning less investment. If they don;t change, they w…[Read more]

one nice thing about the design field in academia is that you dont always need to be holding that elusive PHD. have your MLA a good portfolio and a few competition wins and you’ll  be just as good as a phd candidate. the PHD always help though.

If work is not near you, get near the work.(if you can) there is a few jobs here in DC area
I am a…[Read more]

LOL! Craig, great last paragraph! My NYC landscaper friend, I’m happier than you might think. I just bought a house in South Maui and it didn’t come from LA salary. It came from my past investments in the market and current planning position.
Look man, I agree with you to a point. I just think you need to tell the hard truth along with the rosy…[Read more]

There are doomsdayers indeed, the same way that there are eternal optmists. The realists are the ones you need to pay attention to.

Human beings seem to have a natural tendency to predict the worst when it comes to the forecasting of anything.  Be it economic, political, weather, sports….there will always be dooms dayers for any given subject, and media outlets will only magnify it because it sells.  This is one significant reason I hold out hope that things will turn aro…[Read more]

I’m with you dude.

In Virginia the kids would have hour and a half bus rides, and then sit in the school parking lot in the full buses until the bell rang to signal them to run to their classes (this is rural virginia, outside of Charlottesville, so it  was not running  because of a dangerous urban neighborhood) because they could not be allowed in the school pl…[Read more]

Tension found in the juxtaposition of peace and threat…thanks for sharing that observation, BP.  
Now if we turn that into a design challenge for how to bring drama and tension into design as a sustainable emotional experience in the garden and landscape…interesting mental exercise; but I don’t think it works in the actual building of it.
By that…[Read more]

good points

Waiting tables is probably harder than LA and some make great money on tips. Getting on with a great restaurant isn’t easy. Oh well, the grass is always greener on the other side. 

One needs to seek out colleges that offers hot careers such as electical engineering or mechanical engineering.

Are you design-build?
 
What kind of projects are you getting?
 
What is CSU?
 
 

We did not cover zoning ordinances at the U of Oregon, but we should have. Later in my career I worked as a county planner and my job was to explain, enforce, and help the public with zoning ordinances.
How could a small LA firm get business from CEQR and NPDES in state or nationally?
I saw some job openings at large firms in Portland, Oregon, but…[Read more]

So you’re suggesting that if Michael simply works his butt off, out works his peers, that he’ll have a long stable rewarding experience in Landscape Architecture?  I don’t know man, I don’t mean to read into what you are saying too much, but I know a LOT of very hard working LA’s who have sacrificed a lot for this profession, only to end up…[Read more]