Should I major in landscape architecture?

[nca]

even though you probably dont agree with what I wrote earlier craig…I like your optimism.

[mauiBob]

Craig, my NYC landscaper friend, while I admire your optimism for our profession, it can at times border on fantasy. Let me bring you back down from cloud 9. You are confused and seem to be forgetting about who exactly is Michael? He can’t go out after college and bring in clients. He needs to start from ground up, meaning an entry level position. Some have suggested at other trends regarding starting a design-build firm after college. LOL! Talk is cheap. They’ll get a taste of reality when they hit the pavement and realize how difficult it is for some unknown, no experience, no professional license LA to get work on their own.

Michael, Civil and Mechanical engineering are good, but you really want a sure fire job? Follow what makes you happy. Maybe it is LA or maybe not. One thing is guaranteed: you will NOT be wealthy working as an LA. I’ve worked with some of the largest firms in our profession and not one employee (in the LA department) was there for more than 18 years or lived in a million $$ home. Stability and LA don’t go well together. Try computer programming, mathematics, health care, or a business degree with an international exposure. Having a degree in Math can take you virtually in any field. Whatever you decide to take, enroll in a few business and foreign language courses. 

Again, my personal opinion…don’t do LA!! Look before you leap. I should’ve committed to Business Finance, but I didn’t have someone to tell me otherwise. I would’ve been HAPPY either way. There were no trends like this on the internet 18 years ago!

[Jordan Lockman]

[Jay Smith]

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 disgruntled or in another field.  Hard work is critical to success in any field, but it is just ONE necessary ingredient of many.

[George McNair]

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 I would like to tap in from my level. Do you want to form a virtual firm? 

Are there areas where project come up for bid?

Lately I’ve been advertising as a LA and Planner. I have done some intensive planning projects such as zone changes, approvals for home in agricultural areas, etc. These amount to 40 pages and presentations before planning commissions. So far all are approved!

 

[George McNair]

Are you design-build?

 

What kind of projects are you getting?

 

What is CSU?

 

 

[George McNair]

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

[George McNair]

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. 

[George McNair]

good points

[Anonymous]

Oh, thanks for snapping me out of it. I’ve been fantasizing about paying my bills and feeding my face for the last 23 years. You’re right, when new LA grads hit the pavement they’re going to get a shock, just like I did and the many LAs before me. That’s just part of the growing process for young people. I call it life.

 

CEs and MEs have a little more stability than we have, but if a recession last long enough they starve along with us and the Architects. It’s happened before, it will probably happen again. The only difference is they tend to make a little more money, so they’re able to squirrel away a few more nuts than we can.

 

Seriously mauiB don’t you get it? You can force a square peg into a round hole, but that doesn’t mean it belongs there. Telling some young creative person to become a computer programmer or mathematician is just asinine. I work with students that have piercings, tats, and pink hair. These are not the types that would be happy in an engineering office. Yeah, they can take out the nose rings and cover their skin, but they shouldn’t have to. People that hide who they are and conform to fit in end up bitter and resentful.

 

Just look at yourself, you probably weren’t meant to be an LA. You’re heart just isn’t into it and look at how you’ve turned out. Sour, broken and longing for a better outcome, like an old man at the end of his life.

[Anonymous]

“…dont choose any profession based on the nostradamus of economy…”

 

I had to laugh when I read this. The economists (the experts) don’t know what the economy going to do and we have Landscape Architects on Land8 providing economic forecast. Hilarious!

 

Who knows what technology, military actions, infrastructure failure; or natural catastrophe will drive up the demand for LA services? There’s not that many of us folks. We’re not like attorneys with a million firms listed in the phone books. All it takes is one or two progressive decisions from our leaders in Washington to get things going for us.

 

Who thought that Germany would rebuild and thrive after being decimated in WWII? Who thought that China a country that couldn’t feed itself a couple of decades or so ago would be the “big player” that it is today. No one knows what the future brings. Risk is a part of living.  

[Anonymous]

Thanks Nick, but I have to add that my optimism isn’t based on some “pie in the sky” notion. I’m optimistic because I believe in this country and I believe in myself. It’s inevitable; this country will build again on a major scale because we have no other choice. And I know that if there is a bunch of land development taking place here in the US, I’m going to get a piece of it one way or another.  

[Anonymous]

No bro’, my post was in support of what you posted…I think?

[nca]

I’m with you dude.

[Jay Smith]

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 around sooner rather than later.  That said, I remember a discussion between some economic gurus back in the summer of 2008 that said the United States was falling into a severe 5 year recession.  I thought they were crazy at the time.  I honestly don’t know who to believe anymore.

[Author]

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