Andrew Garulay, RLA

Much lower real estate values than a few years ago. Very few real estate transactions. Many commercial jobs that have been permitted are not getting built. Many unbuilt subdivisions being offered for sale to the towns for open space (we have a “land bank” system that funds these purchases from realestate transactions), many empty store fronts, and…[Read more]

I felt bad fot Tim Zhang that he was personally ridiculed and thought Landplanner would get it and be more tolerant. It is an open forum and Tim’s comment is every bit as legitimate as anyone elses.

My grammar and spelling put me in a glass house.

I deleted the post out of respect for the forum and Landplanner. I think it would be nice if LP…[Read more]

So on the one hand our profession believes that we should follow the guidance of developed theories and standards, but on the other hand we are creating a homogenous landscape that we say we don’t like. I think that is a good point.

That is why I am a big believer in diverse development from rural living, to urban cores, and the most maligned and…[Read more]

Things have definitely moved in this direction. I’m not in an urban environment, but I see several things that have changed over the years. One example is that all schools and playgrounds in my area have uplimbed existing trees and not planted shrubs in certain places in order to keep visibilty of the children and remove places for stalkers to…[Read more]

Is there a higher rate of violent crime in newer subdivision communities?

Dumb luck or right place at the right time? You have a better chance to be in the right place at the right time if you spend more time in more places. Artie’s advice will certainly do that whether or not you agree with his reasoning.

I did some design examples for a private community a few years back. There is a lot out there on municipal websites. They explain the difference between humps and tables very clearly. Tables need to be long enough so that the shock absorbers can’t take out the reaction of the car at higher speeds as bumps do. Google it, you’ll get quite I bit to…[Read more]

I’m not saying that we should not have ideals and aspire to do more. I am saying that it all starts from ourselves understanding what specific opportunities are out there and finding a way to make it work until we can move to the next better situation. Ideals are great unless they are keeping you from participating or keeping others from wanting…[Read more]

That is much more productive than looking for ASLA to redefine landscape architecture, or HGTV to promote it with some new shows, or changing the name of LA,, ….

Too much emphasis is put on what others should or should not do. The firms that are still working away are probably less concerned with what others should do because they are focused…[Read more]

Whether it is the economy or not, the underlying thing from the people making the posts is that the profession is not meeting their expectations.

There seems to be two major categories of stress that come out in posts in my opinion. One is the current limitation of opportunity. The other is frustration of idealistic people either not being able…[Read more]

I’d start by asking anyone why they pursued the profession and follow it with asking if it is not what he or she thought it was. I think this is the root of the problem.

Ground plane elevation changes don’t take up horizontal space – raised floor, sunken floor. Ceilings, whethe tree canpy, vegetataed structure, or otherwise are good tools. Colors and texture change spaces, too.

These are some tools. I’m going to assume that you know why you are dividing the space and what those uses will be. Hopefully, you’ll…[Read more]

Use the perimeter as much as possible for your usable space to maximize the actual limited space.

Layering what is seen tends to make a small space look bigger because it builds visual depth. When you have a foreground, middle ground, and background you have more depth.

Avoid complete separation of spaces in order to visually borrow from the…[Read more]

Yes, I do. Not by default, but when there is a practical reason to do so.

Gravel, clam shell, and a mix of the two are much more commonly used here.than porous pavers, especially on the ocean front homes believe it or not.

“Green Infrastructure needs to be integrated design and that is what we we do right?”

Yes. It needs to be integrated. That is what I’m trying to say. It should not be forced. If you start with a mind set that you should be an advocate of a certain practice it leaves the perception that the project needs to accommodate that agenda.

I’d like to think that all of us are suggesting the use of whatever makes the most sense for the situation at hand. When “green infrastructure” makes sense I believe we would advocate for it. In fact we do. When there is not enough room or the topography is working against us, it often makes more sense to go with subsurface leaching. We tend to…[Read more]

Anyway you look at it, these things are not designed in isolation. They are some of the trailing parts of an overall site plan rather than the leading parts. It does not seem practical to expect to get work by marketing abilities in a portion of a site plan rather than marketing to the bigger context and being prepared to do well with the green…[Read more]

Would you not agree that when agencies such as the EPA or regulators such as local conservation commissions or planning boards are requiring practices and we are in a position to respond, that we would actually do so simply acting as non-biased professionals acting in the best interests of our clients and applying the rules of the day?

Why do we,…[Read more]

I agree with Jennifer.

The first thing is that if you have followed HGTV over the years you will have seen it go with the flow of what sells more ads. They used to have some better landscape shows, but they neither attracted the right audience to keep their ratings up, nor made a big enough niche market to attract sponsers. The advertizing market…[Read more]

Any redevelopment opens up opportunity to effect the landscape through design. Very little changes in an urban setting without some kind of project that requires restoration of the landscape at minimum and opportunites to have a bigger impact at best..

The real potential is opened or limited by the criteria set by planning boards and the…[Read more]