alland

Someone mentioned on this blog that the business model of the A/E firms with “grab some work”, have upper management above and project managers and CAD jockeys below, somehow needs to be changed. This is a model I certainly have experienced many times. The problem is can it ever be changed? Why is it ALWAYS the PE at the top? Does municipal…[Read more]

In my day, graduating in ’95 and working in a design build firm – 35k
engineering firm 2000 – 40k
engineering firm 2005 – 52k
engineering firm (5 mos.) 2008 – 70k
after the crash – whatever i can get on a cutback schedule…
 
 
 
 
 

Thats absolutely correct, Andrew. I also have work experience in Design Build and consulting Engineering offices. I found the design build experience a great tool for building my knowledge, yet the pay was of course lower, right out of school. The engineers were the same experience you had mentioned. Landscape Architecture is often the…[Read more]

In NJ, all these rules have to be met before you even sit for the LARE?…?

At the Naval Academy they spend the freshman summer sailing and learning to tie every sailor knot there is…in the age of endless technology. ‘back to the beginning’ as they say.
For me, first learning to think with the pencil makes designing an auto reflex.

Exactly. Count the# of LAs out of work. Start the survey from there….Average salary $0.00

Excellent post, Pat. Like a lot of life, the LARE exam is a different experience for every candidate. As we all know, the LA field is very broad. Part artist, part engineer? For the kids who get out of school and pass it, congrats. For others its longer. Years. Licensure at this point in time is in no way supported by career opportunites.

Maybe…[Read more]

PS
Dont interpret my post as flippant, as the downturn has caused as much pain and soul searching as all of us. I wish it wasnt
this way right now, believe me. Everything has been touched by the recession.

I think Land 8 has become one thing we never thought.

THERAPEUTIC i hope the spelling is correct…

Public work: Banks dont lend, developers dont spend = no work for any design professionals,(much less or more, LAs).

Private work: Hard to spend on improving your residence’s landscape when you’re tying to put food on the table. Clients become the more fortunate or the money markets still intact after the meltdown…

just my 2 cents..

While its not for me personally, it seems like Dubai has been the haven for people in the development field willing to live in a totally different culture to get some job security and lots of work. I even looked at a recent ‘success story’ on my landscape CAD newsletter, and it was from Dubai! I dont know if the development explosion has died down…[Read more]

This may be ‘trash can’ philosophy, but I beleive it applies to everyone, including LA’s and our position.

‘Do what you’ve always done, and you’ll get what you’ll always get’
we need to refocus, a revolution…

Oops, you are so right, Brian. Got my schools/athletes mixed up…Sorry, I’m a Rutgers Big East guy. My apologies!

I don’t know if its ‘celebrity’ status, but one of the few ‘high profile’ people to advocate Landscape Architecture, and still does, is former NFL running back Eddie George. I have read many articles and online ASLA material featuring his efforts to raise awareness of our field. The difference from Brad Pitt, is that Eddie George has a BLA from…[Read more]

I was at the Philadelphia show 08 or 09, (cant recall) and arrived in the am for an LARE review. I was surprised how few people were there in the morning, I guess many groups go out on their excursions on the first day. When I left in the afternoon, I saw quite a few registering onsite. Like many conventions, you are all pretty much excluded into…[Read more]

I am trying in my corner…..http://www.examiner.com/x-53639-New-Brunswick-Gardening-Examiner~y2010m6d17-Its-2010-What-does-green-mean

lets all try in ours, evey little bit…

absolutely, boilerplater. a client (design builder) putting a cap on your fee, and going way, way over the top with their own revisions, or from the homeowners’, distilling down timely drawing time.

Ouch, awful…..abusive.

Your question is indeed the point at which design is valued by the design build contractor. The contractor loves good design, particularly if it generates a sale. You can bill for your hours (including ALL revisions)…and inevitably run into a roadblock with some contractors who do not want to pay. You can almost always cut a deal for a…[Read more]

Maybe because its all ive done professionaly for over 15 years, but Landscape Architecture doesnt feel like a job. Its much more a part of who I am than just what I do.

And because of that, many of us tough out the market driven ups and downs….kudos to you Keith!

Here in New Jersey we have the Municipal Land Use Law & Site Plan Law; where PEs dominate a majority of what can be signed and sealed as far as plans for professional review are concerned. Therefore many planting plans and the like fall victim to a tree stamp and a plants book. That sucks, and has taken away decades of work…Now we have a…[Read more]

I have been professionally practicing since 1995. Since then, I have worked for 4 design build firms, and 4 engineering firms. I left three of these jobs for the other one. The rest, let go for lack of work, and most BEFORE the recession. Keep in mind that this is in the overdeveloped, maxed out (mostly) and unappealing paved over public spaces of…[Read more]