Mark Di Lucido

To your question about some other ways I may have found successful, that’s a tough one–especially if you’re working full time. I like to think for me it was a matter of, “chance favors the prepared mind” as Louis Pasteur said, but in reality it was probably closer to Woody Allen’s, “80% of life is showing up”. So I “showed up” by applying to a…[Read more]

Daniel—you don’t specify how you are trying to build a professional network–is it face-to-face or? Social media never got me anywhere. In my experience actually knowing or at least meeting potential employers is by far and away the best way especially if it’s in a casual non-employment related arena. And I’m inclined to believe these days tha…[Read more]

Planetizen has a large selection of online, inexpensive, short courses on planning topics and software apps but also much relevant stuff for LAs. Another site I like is deeproot http://www.deeproot.com/blog/ Though a commercial blog, they have relevant and researched articles on green infrastructure.

Kristin—
I’m a little late in seeing this thread but find the dialogue between Trace One and Lauren timely and interesting, and I think it’s a tremendous resource for you—a passionate real-world discussion of some very big landscape design issues which also may help inform your career direction. I like Trace One’s feistiness and I think it’s good…[Read more]

One firm I worked at didn’t pay for exam related costs but gave a $2500 per year raise when you became registered. I thought this was an equitable method as it was a decent reward/reimbursement but you had to stay at the firm to receive it thus benefiting owner and employee. Of course that was back when the economy was booming. The firm I work for…[Read more]

As the principal of a one person firm, I provide three-martini lunches as part of our wellness program. Seriously though, my favorite way of being “taken care of physically, mentally, and socially”, when I worked for someone else was to be given time off (usually paid but unpaid was welcome too) to use as I pleased. Gym memberships, massages, etc…[Read more]

Don’t know the intricate details of hiring practices for LA firms in SF, but in this economy ninety days is not an abnormally long time to not be able to land a job. Between 2009 and 2012 I couldn’t find an LA position to save my life. Granted, I lived in one of the areas hit hardest by the downturn and was also in a very small market, but thr…[Read more]

If you’re looking for local work most cities have a bid opportunities page that lists RFPs under the ‘Business’ menu on their website. ‘Find RFP’ and ‘Bid Contract’ are two of many websites that list LA RFP work across the nation. Note that many listings are categorized as civil engineering projects so even though they contain landscape…[Read more]

Highway department (state DOTs) requirements probably won’t add much cost but if it is in a DOT R.O.W., then an encroachment permit will be required and this could affect your schedule so run this down early in your process. Even if it’s municipal R.O.W. something like this will require significant design review time so keep that in mind also. O…[Read more]

Put me on the side of those who don’t like it. Seems contrived, fussy, the paving pattern doesn’t appear to have logic and the many motifs don’t strongly support the overall concept. If the trees ever get large there may be enough shade so the granite benches aren’t 130 deg. but till then you’ll never see my tush on them. Hope they don’t have…[Read more]

I suggest adopting what can easily and quickly be learned, employed, and shared across multiple firms as opposed to procedures that are harder to learn and require strict adherence to standards but supposedly offer the most time/cost saving. That said, don’t be afraid to explore new ways of doing things but keep in mind that methods that are n…[Read more]

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Graham, could be the municipality doesn’t understand, and/or have much experience with CAD and intellectual property. It could also be a holdover from the pre-PDF era when plotting was entity color-dependent and few submitters included plot files (in Autocad these are .ctbs) thus causing a plotting nightmare for the receiving party. In many…[Read more]

Hi Leslie
My takeaway from the post was not that ‘big things’ are eventually guaranteed but that to have a decent chance at big things we need to aim high and be committed, something I’ve certainly been guilty of not doing on occasion, and as a result think it important to impart to anyone starting out in LA (and other professions).  For me, do…[Read more]

Hi Lauren/Everyone:
I think a very important part of this discussion has to involve the longer view of fulfillment and success in design and craft related professions (touched on by a few folks already). This link will get you to a post by Steve Mouzon (who writes, ‘The Original Green’ blog) and it’s about what it takes to be sought after for t…[Read more]

I like the idea of “loose parts” in a playground. It reminds me of movable seating in public spaces. And if children like playing with them is that so bad? And I can’t help thinking if you placed a, ‘glade in a forest’ playground next to the Betsy Head Park and allowed kids to choose, most would go for the Betsy. Yet I realize that many of the ki…[Read more]

Despite having courses in city parks we still get guerrilla disc golf happening in adjacent national forests. Haven’t seen too much social trailing (yet) but if you’re hiking/mtn biking etc., in the vicinity you better know what ‘fore’ means.

Autocad is a hospital when all you really ever needed was a Band-aid. Because it’s meant to be all things to all designers it ends up not being an easily learned tool for anyone. It’s true enough that there are no standards but there are ways of doing things that are logical, save time, and practiced by a majority of firms. Knowing what I know…[Read more]

Well said!–though you forgot to mention that everyone smoked and three martini lunches were commonplace.

Ficus pumila. Certainly does well on east-facing walls and I’ve seen it on north-facing wall too in USDA zone 9. This evergreen has attractive juvenile leaves which belie its eventual aggresiveness

Wow—lots of feedback on this topic!
Short answer:
Don’t over-analyze this. Prepare for, (lots of good prep classes out there) take the test and move on—you’ll have it out of the way and have a great sense of accomplishment.
Longer answer:
All the people I know that couldn’t pass the exam regret it which is unfortunate because the exam is more abou…[Read more]