what jobs? There are architecture firms in each of the fifty states, and in most countries in the world. I know of a job in Cashiers, NC (pop 2,000) if you are interested.
Seems like the moral of this story is, as "e" alluded to... this site is not representative of many elements of the profession. Look at lots of places. Maybe even (gasp!) someplace OTHER than a website....
thanks citizen I'm well aware of other alternatives other than websites (gasp!). My question still remains why are all the jobs (most anyways) on THIS site only nyc and la?
1. NY and LA are the more progressive areas, both for school and practice
2. All those students are on here
3. Then all of those students post on here when they start working
There are jobs everywhere, but the better ones, as far as design goes, will be where there are good firms are concentrated - NY and LA. These firms are usually more technologically inclined, too.
Sorry for the cranky sarcasm, chow. Sometimes it seems as if people aren't aware of (or, worse, are too lazy to explore) anything beyond a few websites.
You're right, of course, that this site seems very LA/NY-centric, at least as jobs go. And (to be honest) I've asked myself the very question you asked. It doesn't cost (I don't think?) anything to post a job here... so why don't firms in Chicago, Seattle, or Atlanta do so?
anyway- it is a good question, as i've seen very good firms in other states. examples: plexus r+d (atlanta) john ronan (chicago) tighe arch. (santa monica) etc.
maybe the turnover rate is greater in these areas because of the masses of firms in such a concentrated area, thus more job openings. just a theory..
no problem citizen. trace your statement would be believeable if not for the salary poll. the salary poll indicates a much broader participation group.
I've asked myself this same question from time to time. Then I see a typical short sighted NY response that all the "good" firms are in NY/LA.
Have you thought that possibly NYC and LA have high turnover/churn rates compared to the rest of the country in all fields? Neither is a place that people often speak of as "settling down" at.
This has puzzled me in the past, because this site's audience represents a more varied geographical demographic (check the salary poll for example). I can only assume that employers in smaller cities post jobs in other, local job boards rather than the more wide-reaching Archinect audience. Empoloyers in other countries probably have national job listings specific to their country as well.
Regardless, we've received surprisingly positive feedback from employers who have posted their jobs on the Archinect board.
i said something similar, but my direction doesn't deal with the idea of whether people would want to "settle down" here or in la. almost everyone in my firm in fact have "settled down" here (ny). some have seasonal vacation homes somewhere else, but they all live here.
but the turnover rate is more than likely driven by the talent pool being filled because of the number of firms, not necessarily that we have more "good firms". all these kids coming into shoddy firms trying to shore up their resumes and portfolios to get into the better firms.
Hmmm, didn't realize the audience was so diverse - that's good news.
Maybe LA and NY just have a higher concentration of transient workers? I know I was and all of my friends are (most still in LA, but most have plans to leave soon).
It takes a lot to stay in either place, either love of it (which wears thin) or money. They are both great places to be for a little while, but long term no one that I know plans on staying (with the exception of one or two).
Its where the majorty of the poulation and hence those in need of housing/shelter/architecture are. They are also represent the largest portion of the US economy. Where there is money there is construction. Not the most moral statment but a true one.
NYC RULZZZ!!!!!!!! We have a lot of people here that need houses. There are so many bums here that houses (and projects) are constantly being built. I live in Jamaica, Queens and here you can see construction and renovation going on on every other street corner. There are also a lot of unlicensed architecture firms (owned by illegal immigrants) around here and they hire illegal immigrants for contracting.
It's kind of a (prepare to cringe) self-fulfilling prophecy. A lot of people in school seemed to think NY or LA were the only places to go to start their career. I’ve even had friends give up perfectly good jobs in one city to take jobs in NY where in many cases the NY firm was much less interesting/innovative from a design perspective than their previous ones. They even took cuts in relative pay and cost of living for the privilege.
One thing that I think contributes to this other than the established design culture in NY and LA is the competitiveness of the markets. In a competitive environment firms are much more likely to be trying to make their name known. On the other hand, firms doing innovative work in smaller cities probably have a corner on their respective markets/clients and aren’t making huge marketing efforts.
One of the most widespread things firms do to raise recognition and desirability is to have a (good) website. A lot of people seem to be searching for their jobs mostly on the web these days and pass over firms who have lame websites or no websites at all. So if you accept what I’ve speculated above, the NY and LA firms will have the best websites. Yet I worked for a firm while in school whose only internet access was a dialup machine for sending e-mail.
while place is important, it is more important what you make of the place. buckminster fuller formed and perfected his ideas of the geodesic dome at black mountain college in north carolina. donald judd found his inspiration in marfa, texas. paolo soleri created an urban laboratory 65 miles north of phoenix, arizona.
like bryan4arch i have noticed that many people think that nyc or la are the only places an architect can have (or begin) a successful career. what i find amusing about this outlook is that you're more likely to be able to forge your own path in a small(er) community. is whoring yourself to a prima donna designer in nyc better for your career than running things in a smaller town? hard to say. it's perfectly legitimate to move to a big city as a lifestyle decision, but i think you delude yourself to think that it's the best place for a career to be born. everyone should agree that there are many places that need competent designers far, far more than big cities. unlike acting or music, our industry is not based in a few particular geographic locales.
I'm intrigued as to why people think NYC & LA are the hotbeds of architecture. When Contract magazine does their survey of most admired design firms both NYC and LA do not have any kind of domination of that list. Actually the only local NYC firm I recall was KPF. Does Gensler and SOM really count?
Granted, I would assume working in a city like NY you are less likely to end up detailing suburban strip malls. Then again I've never worked in either NY or LA. In all actuality the most revolutionary american firms, business speaking, have not come from either of those two cities. I would argue that on design grounds as well.
Historically speaking aren't we also forgetting Chicago? They have just as great a claim on architectural significance as NY or LA.
y are all the jobs nyc or la?
why are all the jobs (95%) either nyc or la? where's the rest of the country? rest of the world? why are they not represented?
what jobs? There are architecture firms in each of the fifty states, and in most countries in the world. I know of a job in Cashiers, NC (pop 2,000) if you are interested.
the jobs posted on this site. As i sit here and freeze in the north east it'd be nice to see some job postings from the south.
maybe try looking in other places. we got archi jobs in the northwest too.
Miami is still booming with construction. There have been plenty of job openings in the past few months.
Seems like the moral of this story is, as "e" alluded to... this site is not representative of many elements of the profession. Look at lots of places. Maybe even (gasp!) someplace OTHER than a website....
thanks citizen I'm well aware of other alternatives other than websites (gasp!). My question still remains why are all the jobs (most anyways) on THIS site only nyc and la?
1. NY and LA are the more progressive areas, both for school and practice
2. All those students are on here
3. Then all of those students post on here when they start working
There are jobs everywhere, but the better ones, as far as design goes, will be where there are good firms are concentrated - NY and LA. These firms are usually more technologically inclined, too.
you mean....there is architecture jobs outside of ny and la?
whoa man.....
no one told me..
Sorry for the cranky sarcasm, chow. Sometimes it seems as if people aren't aware of (or, worse, are too lazy to explore) anything beyond a few websites.
You're right, of course, that this site seems very LA/NY-centric, at least as jobs go. And (to be honest) I've asked myself the very question you asked. It doesn't cost (I don't think?) anything to post a job here... so why don't firms in Chicago, Seattle, or Atlanta do so?
relax.... just a joke.
anyway- it is a good question, as i've seen very good firms in other states. examples: plexus r+d (atlanta) john ronan (chicago) tighe arch. (santa monica) etc.
maybe the turnover rate is greater in these areas because of the masses of firms in such a concentrated area, thus more job openings. just a theory..
no problem citizen. trace your statement would be believeable if not for the salary poll. the salary poll indicates a much broader participation group.
I've asked myself this same question from time to time. Then I see a typical short sighted NY response that all the "good" firms are in NY/LA.
Have you thought that possibly NYC and LA have high turnover/churn rates compared to the rest of the country in all fields? Neither is a place that people often speak of as "settling down" at.
chow, it looks like your question is arising from some experience, maybe about your office/work etc, that you are not sharing with us...maybe maybe
This has puzzled me in the past, because this site's audience represents a more varied geographical demographic (check the salary poll for example). I can only assume that employers in smaller cities post jobs in other, local job boards rather than the more wide-reaching Archinect audience. Empoloyers in other countries probably have national job listings specific to their country as well.
Regardless, we've received surprisingly positive feedback from employers who have posted their jobs on the Archinect board.
interesting paul. sameolddr I'm not sure I follow, what do you mean by my office work experience?
A,
i said something similar, but my direction doesn't deal with the idea of whether people would want to "settle down" here or in la. almost everyone in my firm in fact have "settled down" here (ny). some have seasonal vacation homes somewhere else, but they all live here.
but the turnover rate is more than likely driven by the talent pool being filled because of the number of firms, not necessarily that we have more "good firms". all these kids coming into shoddy firms trying to shore up their resumes and portfolios to get into the better firms.
Hmmm, didn't realize the audience was so diverse - that's good news.
Maybe LA and NY just have a higher concentration of transient workers? I know I was and all of my friends are (most still in LA, but most have plans to leave soon).
It takes a lot to stay in either place, either love of it (which wears thin) or money. They are both great places to be for a little while, but long term no one that I know plans on staying (with the exception of one or two).
Its where the majorty of the poulation and hence those in need of housing/shelter/architecture are. They are also represent the largest portion of the US economy. Where there is money there is construction. Not the most moral statment but a true one.
NYC RULZZZ!!!!!!!! We have a lot of people here that need houses. There are so many bums here that houses (and projects) are constantly being built. I live in Jamaica, Queens and here you can see construction and renovation going on on every other street corner. There are also a lot of unlicensed architecture firms (owned by illegal immigrants) around here and they hire illegal immigrants for contracting.
WHOAAAAAAH! there are jobs in other "cities?"
i thought that the mississippi river was like 5,000 miles wide and that only nyc and la were on opposite shores!!!!!
It's kind of a (prepare to cringe) self-fulfilling prophecy. A lot of people in school seemed to think NY or LA were the only places to go to start their career. I’ve even had friends give up perfectly good jobs in one city to take jobs in NY where in many cases the NY firm was much less interesting/innovative from a design perspective than their previous ones. They even took cuts in relative pay and cost of living for the privilege.
One thing that I think contributes to this other than the established design culture in NY and LA is the competitiveness of the markets. In a competitive environment firms are much more likely to be trying to make their name known. On the other hand, firms doing innovative work in smaller cities probably have a corner on their respective markets/clients and aren’t making huge marketing efforts.
One of the most widespread things firms do to raise recognition and desirability is to have a (good) website. A lot of people seem to be searching for their jobs mostly on the web these days and pass over firms who have lame websites or no websites at all. So if you accept what I’ve speculated above, the NY and LA firms will have the best websites. Yet I worked for a firm while in school whose only internet access was a dialup machine for sending e-mail.
while place is important, it is more important what you make of the place. buckminster fuller formed and perfected his ideas of the geodesic dome at black mountain college in north carolina. donald judd found his inspiration in marfa, texas. paolo soleri created an urban laboratory 65 miles north of phoenix, arizona.
like bryan4arch i have noticed that many people think that nyc or la are the only places an architect can have (or begin) a successful career. what i find amusing about this outlook is that you're more likely to be able to forge your own path in a small(er) community. is whoring yourself to a prima donna designer in nyc better for your career than running things in a smaller town? hard to say. it's perfectly legitimate to move to a big city as a lifestyle decision, but i think you delude yourself to think that it's the best place for a career to be born. everyone should agree that there are many places that need competent designers far, far more than big cities. unlike acting or music, our industry is not based in a few particular geographic locales.
Is anyone here working in China?
I'm intrigued as to why people think NYC & LA are the hotbeds of architecture. When Contract magazine does their survey of most admired design firms both NYC and LA do not have any kind of domination of that list. Actually the only local NYC firm I recall was KPF. Does Gensler and SOM really count?
Granted, I would assume working in a city like NY you are less likely to end up detailing suburban strip malls. Then again I've never worked in either NY or LA. In all actuality the most revolutionary american firms, business speaking, have not come from either of those two cities. I would argue that on design grounds as well.
Historically speaking aren't we also forgetting Chicago? They have just as great a claim on architectural significance as NY or LA.
because the combined population of the two cities is almost 20 million.
Let's see... that leaves only another 240 million in between. Yep, no architecture jobs there!
Chicago.
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