I need a little advice, if you would be so kind to offer some. Basically, the missus is a theater major and needs to get to somewhere she can find a good theater community so she can make her stab at that whole thing. This leads us to NYC, Chicago, or LA. Under ordinary circumstances, these would also be great places for me to practice. As I know we're all aware, however, these are not ordinary circumstances.
I know things are generally bad everywhere, but I'd like to get a feel from the gang on what we're looking at between these cities were we to head to one of them sometime early next year (February-ish).
I'm currently 30 and employed at a mid-size national AEC firm making about 50k and have been there since the summer of 2005, fresh out of school after obtaining a professional bachelor's degree from UT-Austin. I'm LEED accredited but not licensed. I've been on the design side of things, and have worked on several projects and project types to various levels of completion. I've served on 2 projects through CDs - a 156 unit multi-family over garage development (unbuilt) and an 8 story hospital (presently under construction) which was done in Revit from start to finish (this represents the extent of my revit training). I've also worked on a large clinic that went into CDs (and stalled), and will have a rather interesting 16 floor, 300 unit multi-family brought through DD's by the time of the move. Aside from those projects mentioned, I've worked on many design proposals ranging from multi-family, healthcare, office, and educational. This involved TONS of modeling and rendering through ACad and 3D Studio (mental ray), with of course post production with Photoshop.
So, I think I've got a decent level of experience ranging from pre-design level work through CD details. But is this enough? Which city am I more likely to find work? I'd really prefer to get away from the corporate end of things a bit and work on projects serving a more design oriented client base - smaller projects would also be nice, especially residential work.
Anyway, any help or advice would be very much appreciated. Also, whatever city we end up going with, I'd probably just head up there before lining up the job, or attempting to. It seems best to be available when applying - correct strategy?
(oh - and if any of you happen to know any actors in any of the above cities - how are they doing?)
from my days on the theater/film side of life, Chicago might be the best place to mature as an actor. LA has too many folks wanting to be famous (that crowd out the talent without implants), while NY has too much establishment (NYU & Yale grads) on stage to allow many up&comers from outside to shine. But if your missus doesn't mind being an extra on a pimples commercial, then go to LA or NY.
That said, Toronto and Houston have a bit of theater too - plus most of the film industry is moving to Vancouver.
For your career, there are great firms in all those cities. the problem is finding one that is hiring.
For theatre, you have to be there to get hired until you get known. For architecture, it's easier to land something locally, but not impossible to get hired from elsewhere. It all depends on how much savings you have to live off of. My advice, keep the job in Austin until somebody makes you an offer.
I second Mr. Lehrman. 2nd City is a great place to get into. If the actor is into comedy, I saw everyone from Mike Myers play a gay artist who wanted to go to watering school -- this is where Dieter came from -- to Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert do their thing playing old Russian guys who don't quite understand the clichés they are telling in their new language.
There's a lot of theater in Chicago and a lot of room to be recognized and make some progress. There's a dearth of architecture jobs though.
Oh man. If you have a stable job that you like, hold on to it for dear life. It is brutal out there. Even if you can land a new job, it may be a very volatile situation. You don't want to be on this side of the fence.
Do you know many architects in any of the three locations you have mentioned? Having some connections goes a long way. Your missus should already have a strong preference over the three. As mentioned by others, they are completely different types of cities when it comes to acting.
If you can post-pone any major decisions for a year or so, that would be the best. Austin isn't exactly a bad place to wait out the recession. An Austin dollar goes a lot further than a NYC or LA dollar.
If you are secure enough in your relationship, have her move out to one of these cities first. Neither of your careers should be compromised for the sake of the other, but if two people work together, sky's the limit. Good luck!
Judging from my actor friends, the theater scene in Chicago is easier to break in to (but perhaps harder to break out of...? I don't know - none of the actors I know have broken out of any theater scene yet!) but on the other hand, let me tell you brother, there are NO jobs in Chicago right now. And there haven't been for close to 2 years, and there won't be for close to 2 years. I mean NO JOBS. (Well I know one firm hiring at your experience level actually - they've got a post up on the AIA Chicago if you're interested - but that's it.) The city has been running between 30-40% unemployment in Architecture since the real estate market (which held up this city's entire economy, basically) crashed. I don't want to be a pessimist but you should be realistic about your job prospects. It ain't looking pretty. That % quote is from the AIA Prez here btw.
FWIW, all the job postings I've seen in the past two years have been in either LA or NYC. Not sure what the competition for those is like since I'm not applying in those cities, but they are seemingly better insulated from the real estate crash out there... Chicago has been boom-town building like crazy for 10 years and everybody is out of work now - realtors, contractors, architects, everyone except Minority-Owned Business MEP, for some reason. (Gov't work MEP retrofits, perhaps?)
Thanks for all the help so far. It's funny - there's almost more advice here for my actor girlfriend! Who'd have thought that between an architecture degree and a theater degree, the latter might have been the more stable choice?!
and yeah, Chicago is probably third on the list, and dropping from what I'm hearing. I do see a lot of offerings for NYC and some for LA, but relatively speaking, that may not mean it's any better than Chicago.
If possible, It'd be nice to hear from some more people who are working or looking for work in both of these cities (NYC and LA). How is hiring looking there for someone with my experience level? How's the working lifestyle in LA? (I know it's madness in NY) etc. . . .
I know a few people who have gotten jobs in Chicago but they have been very connected and have a very specific skill set. Mantaray's comments are pretty interesting. I haven't been looking for a real job but the bidding on small jobs, not design jobs which are few and far between, is really brutal. It's a race to the bottom here which doesn't serve anyone well. With good references and connections though, it's possible to hold the line and survive.
I recently moved from chicago to nyc. The chicago job market was brutal - it had been over a year since I graduated with an MArch, and couldn't find anything. I was able to land a job within a week upon re-locating to nyc. It's not an architecture position, but it's in a related field (product design/furniture design) and I quite like it. There are more job postings/positions here than in Chicago by FAR. I think you will have better luck here.
just talked with a PA friend in LA at a large well known practice. working so much he doesn't have a life and being pressured by clients to deliver more for significantly less fees. But, if you manage to find time to get about, there is a very engaged and active architecture social scene between downtown and the west side.
Relocation from Austin - NYC, Chicago, or LA?
Hey guys, first time caller - long time listener.
I need a little advice, if you would be so kind to offer some. Basically, the missus is a theater major and needs to get to somewhere she can find a good theater community so she can make her stab at that whole thing. This leads us to NYC, Chicago, or LA. Under ordinary circumstances, these would also be great places for me to practice. As I know we're all aware, however, these are not ordinary circumstances.
I know things are generally bad everywhere, but I'd like to get a feel from the gang on what we're looking at between these cities were we to head to one of them sometime early next year (February-ish).
I'm currently 30 and employed at a mid-size national AEC firm making about 50k and have been there since the summer of 2005, fresh out of school after obtaining a professional bachelor's degree from UT-Austin. I'm LEED accredited but not licensed. I've been on the design side of things, and have worked on several projects and project types to various levels of completion. I've served on 2 projects through CDs - a 156 unit multi-family over garage development (unbuilt) and an 8 story hospital (presently under construction) which was done in Revit from start to finish (this represents the extent of my revit training). I've also worked on a large clinic that went into CDs (and stalled), and will have a rather interesting 16 floor, 300 unit multi-family brought through DD's by the time of the move. Aside from those projects mentioned, I've worked on many design proposals ranging from multi-family, healthcare, office, and educational. This involved TONS of modeling and rendering through ACad and 3D Studio (mental ray), with of course post production with Photoshop.
So, I think I've got a decent level of experience ranging from pre-design level work through CD details. But is this enough? Which city am I more likely to find work? I'd really prefer to get away from the corporate end of things a bit and work on projects serving a more design oriented client base - smaller projects would also be nice, especially residential work.
Anyway, any help or advice would be very much appreciated. Also, whatever city we end up going with, I'd probably just head up there before lining up the job, or attempting to. It seems best to be available when applying - correct strategy?
(oh - and if any of you happen to know any actors in any of the above cities - how are they doing?)
Thanks!
Why don't you get your registration done with and then move.
NYC and LA would be your best bet. I have friends who have been able to get work there, while others in Chicago who can't find anything.
from my days on the theater/film side of life, Chicago might be the best place to mature as an actor. LA has too many folks wanting to be famous (that crowd out the talent without implants), while NY has too much establishment (NYU & Yale grads) on stage to allow many up&comers from outside to shine. But if your missus doesn't mind being an extra on a pimples commercial, then go to LA or NY.
That said, Toronto and Houston have a bit of theater too - plus most of the film industry is moving to Vancouver.
For your career, there are great firms in all those cities. the problem is finding one that is hiring.
For theatre, you have to be there to get hired until you get known. For architecture, it's easier to land something locally, but not impossible to get hired from elsewhere. It all depends on how much savings you have to live off of. My advice, keep the job in Austin until somebody makes you an offer.
I second Mr. Lehrman. 2nd City is a great place to get into. If the actor is into comedy, I saw everyone from Mike Myers play a gay artist who wanted to go to watering school -- this is where Dieter came from -- to Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert do their thing playing old Russian guys who don't quite understand the clichés they are telling in their new language.
There's a lot of theater in Chicago and a lot of room to be recognized and make some progress. There's a dearth of architecture jobs though.
That was waitering school
Oh man. If you have a stable job that you like, hold on to it for dear life. It is brutal out there. Even if you can land a new job, it may be a very volatile situation. You don't want to be on this side of the fence.
Do you know many architects in any of the three locations you have mentioned? Having some connections goes a long way. Your missus should already have a strong preference over the three. As mentioned by others, they are completely different types of cities when it comes to acting.
If you can post-pone any major decisions for a year or so, that would be the best. Austin isn't exactly a bad place to wait out the recession. An Austin dollar goes a lot further than a NYC or LA dollar.
If you are secure enough in your relationship, have her move out to one of these cities first. Neither of your careers should be compromised for the sake of the other, but if two people work together, sky's the limit. Good luck!
Judging from my actor friends, the theater scene in Chicago is easier to break in to (but perhaps harder to break out of...? I don't know - none of the actors I know have broken out of any theater scene yet!) but on the other hand, let me tell you brother, there are NO jobs in Chicago right now. And there haven't been for close to 2 years, and there won't be for close to 2 years. I mean NO JOBS. (Well I know one firm hiring at your experience level actually - they've got a post up on the AIA Chicago if you're interested - but that's it.) The city has been running between 30-40% unemployment in Architecture since the real estate market (which held up this city's entire economy, basically) crashed. I don't want to be a pessimist but you should be realistic about your job prospects. It ain't looking pretty. That % quote is from the AIA Prez here btw.
FWIW, all the job postings I've seen in the past two years have been in either LA or NYC. Not sure what the competition for those is like since I'm not applying in those cities, but they are seemingly better insulated from the real estate crash out there... Chicago has been boom-town building like crazy for 10 years and everybody is out of work now - realtors, contractors, architects, everyone except Minority-Owned Business MEP, for some reason. (Gov't work MEP retrofits, perhaps?)
Thanks for all the help so far. It's funny - there's almost more advice here for my actor girlfriend! Who'd have thought that between an architecture degree and a theater degree, the latter might have been the more stable choice?!
and yeah, Chicago is probably third on the list, and dropping from what I'm hearing. I do see a lot of offerings for NYC and some for LA, but relatively speaking, that may not mean it's any better than Chicago.
If possible, It'd be nice to hear from some more people who are working or looking for work in both of these cities (NYC and LA). How is hiring looking there for someone with my experience level? How's the working lifestyle in LA? (I know it's madness in NY) etc. . . .
I know a few people who have gotten jobs in Chicago but they have been very connected and have a very specific skill set. Mantaray's comments are pretty interesting. I haven't been looking for a real job but the bidding on small jobs, not design jobs which are few and far between, is really brutal. It's a race to the bottom here which doesn't serve anyone well. With good references and connections though, it's possible to hold the line and survive.
Also I don't think any of the jobs that friends of mine got were advertised. Those are always the best kind of jobs to get.
nemo,
I recently moved from chicago to nyc. The chicago job market was brutal - it had been over a year since I graduated with an MArch, and couldn't find anything. I was able to land a job within a week upon re-locating to nyc. It's not an architecture position, but it's in a related field (product design/furniture design) and I quite like it. There are more job postings/positions here than in Chicago by FAR. I think you will have better luck here.
just talked with a PA friend in LA at a large well known practice. working so much he doesn't have a life and being pressured by clients to deliver more for significantly less fees. But, if you manage to find time to get about, there is a very engaged and active architecture social scene between downtown and the west side.
So LA is looking good?
And fees are shit, huh?
I am glad that I am not the only one to encounter this...
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.