Any Urban Planners or Landscape Architects out there?

[jungle puma]

It is the field that I am interested in. I am fascinated by sustainable design. I have a background in social science and architectural history, as well as some minimal proficiency in GIS, which I intend to improve.

I am considering graduate school for either planning or landscape architecure. I realize that after I get my degree, it will take time to find a good job and I may have to move to a different part of the country. I think I would be willing to make these sacrifices for a career that is satisfying to my mind.

Any words of advice from someone who has been there and done that? I am interested in both fields, and they are so linked, that I am having a problem deciding which direction to go in.

[texasgirl]

My husband is a landscape architect. He enjoys coming up with the concepts and working with clients, but he gets VERY tired of working behind a computer doing AutoCAD all day. Right now, he works for a commercial landscape firm (that mostly does landscaping for commercial real estate and some government projects), but he's much more interested in residential and plans to open his own firm. He's very outdoorsy, though, so for him to be able to work in an office and outside (managing installation work), is a dream.

[SmilesSoSweet]

I have a bachelors degree in landscape architecture. I graduated six years ago from college.

I don't considered to call myself a landscape architect because I haven't taken my licensing exam for it yet. (I hate taking tests!)

A Masters degree in landscape architecture isn't going to get you anywhere higher than what a bachelors in landscape architecture will do. Basically even though you have a bachelors in whatever and a masters in LA, you'll still start off at entry level no matter where you apply to. You won't be designing your own things either. Most likely you'll be doing in-house plan revisions and probably helping on some conceptual exhibits, but the actual designing will be from your boss or someone just as high up in the office as him and those designers have been around for decades.

As for job locations, I'd probably go with areas that are developing quickly. I moved from So. Cali (Orange County area) to the Phoenix area because the building industry out here was much more promising and had more to offer.

The pay in the industry is okay. You'll definitely won't be making six-figures anytime soon and just because you'd have a masters in LA doesn't automatically mean you'll make more than someone who only has a BS in LA.

I'm just being upfront and honest here. I like what I do for a living, but it does at times take up a lot of your week. I've worked many, many nights of overtime and not all companies will pay you for that OT fortunately mine does.

[jungle puma]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

I can see how one would get frustrated staring at the CAD all day one the computer. I figure, I already spend all day in my current job staring at the computer screen, either sending e-mails, or data entry for our filing system (woo hoo).

As far as the not being able to design your own projects for a long time, I can certainly see how that could be frustrating. I think the key for me would be in knowing well in advance that it's set up that way so that I would have realistic expectations. Also, it would be vital for me to work in progressively more challenging projects throughout the years where I can learn more and keep my mnd stimulated.

Anyway, muchas gracias for the input.

[Brand34]

I am an urban planner, but I do mostly transportation planning. If you want to go to planning school and do a lot of design, make sure to go to one that is under a School of Design (I know Ohio State's is one). There is quite a big divide between design focused planning schools and social policy focused planning schools. I hate design work, so I mostly do policy research and plan writing. I love that stuff; thankfully, we have an architect and some engineering/architecture technicians who do all the design work.