Andrew Garulay, RLA

…. and if nothing else, the possibility of networking may lead to another job.

Well, I know a woman (only relevant because her description at the time matches yours) with an MLA who started out doing administrative work in a small LA firm who has won ASLA national awards (at least two, but possibly more). I would not think twice about it.
My opinion is that this is a better position to be in for your long term goals than doi…[Read more]

I agree. I think we are all doing it to one extent or another.
There are some very specialized designers/contractors in my area  addressing regulated issues as the mainstay of their businesses. The regulation in my area has spawned this as a very viable business. Make no mistake, the ones that thrive are the ones helping the developers get what t…[Read more]

Has anyone used a Canon iPF610?

thanks Alan

Thanks for the response and the follow up. I’m probably just going to have to trust one of the many companies out there. Thanks again.

I D A H O, Idaho, Idaho,  Go, Go, Go!

Well, that helped make my point that if you are too narrowly idealistic it is a path to hell in this profession. You don’t get the opportunity to work on projects if you are against the project OR you do the project and are miserable because it goes against your ideals.

It is a diverse profession. You can choose to pursue a path that takes you to number crunching, it could take you National Parks, it could take you to urban areas, it could take you to working in and on beautiful properties in beautiful places almost every day that few people have access to.
It depends on you to recognize what opportunities are…[Read more]

In shear numbers of potential projects, residential is the biggest market. How many parks and nature preserves are built in your community each year? What type of companies are designing them? How much design and construction documentation (volume of work) goes in to a nature preserve compared to other types of land development?
Almost all medium…[Read more]

Also, don’t ignore entry level skills. You can’t go far if you can’t get through the door.

Here is one specific example for a specific circumstance that may inspire you to your own strategies (I also use LT).
I often make a small circle into a block that I name “c” that I use in conjunction with the measure command. If I have a crowned driveway at a steady slope I make a centerline – a polyline. I’ll subtract the existing or proposed…[Read more]

I would recommend a drawing course before learning CAD …. coming from someone who does not draw well by hand. The techniques you’ll learn in drawing are applicable to CAD.
I would highly recommend learning GIS if you are going into landscape architecture even if you don’t use a GIS program ever again. It teaches a different way of thinking and…[Read more]

The exam is like a difficult client that you have to satisfy … the most important skill you can have to be a professional. One more skill set that they are testing for.

CLARB has no power on their own. They are empowered because the state licensing boards choose to use them …. that is the outside oversight. The problem, if there is a problem, is that the people on the state boards go with the status quo. That is where to go if you want to get changes. If state boards start dropping the CLARB LARE then they’ll…[Read more]

I should mention that one of the CE/LS firms that I worked for was owned by a Licensed Surveyor who also had a MLA from Harvard GSD, but never got licensed simply because he did not have any compelling need to.
He is a perfect example of crossover both in education and profession. His first degree was in forestry. He may be the reason why I feel…[Read more]

Very true. I worked in a civil office that did a lot of work for two separate LA firms that were offspring of the civil office that no longer had any LAs on staff. When I got licensed, the two LA firms stopped using the office that I worked in even though I was an absolute rookie and in no position to take work from them  – both ASLA national…[Read more]

I worked in a couple of civil engineering offices doing civil site plans although my degree and license were in landscape architecture. We all crossed over and seldom delegated to individuals based on education or license. Sometimes I’d get singled out for planting plans and one of the CEs did the hydrocad work, but for the most part we dealt w…[Read more]

Just for the record – Vectorworks was designed for mac much like autocad was designed for pc. It is just as logical that Vectorworks runs better on a Mac as it is that AutoCAD runs better on a pc. Whether those differences are significant or not is another story.

The question of whether the “landscape industry lacks interest” is not the same as why are not more people using it.
Several people gave their reasons why they do not use it. Each time, some people look at it as an attack on using it or a reason to set someone straight on why they should use it.
It is not a religion. There are many practical…[Read more]