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velcro
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| Joined: | Tue Feb 12th, 2008 |
| Location: | Denver, Colorado USA |
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Posted: Tue Sep 2nd, 2008 05:39 pm |
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I would like to know the overall culture, quality and quantity of work in the Boston Area. Can anyone here share the good firms to work for with good professional growth, great projects, benefits and all that matters for a great firm to work for?
TIA
V
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Kato
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| Joined: | Thu Jan 19th, 2006 |
| Location: | Architect, LEED AP |
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Posted: Wed Sep 3rd, 2008 03:10 pm |
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| velcro, the Boston Society of Architects is a fabulous professional organization; check out the area job listings at their website, http://www.architects.org. There are many well managed firms doing good work here. For the best Boston experience, live in the heart of the city and walk to work.
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velcro
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Posted: Fri Sep 5th, 2008 04:38 am |
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Kato, I have known the website and go there, but can I get more specific insider's information. TIA
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Punchlist
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| Joined: | Tue Oct 17th, 2006 |
| Location: | Massachusetts USA |
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Posted: Fri Sep 5th, 2008 03:23 pm |
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It depends on what you'd like to do project-wise. There are plenty of firms that do labs, high-end residential, corporate office, higher education, science and technology, etc.
What sort of project would blow your hair back, so to speak? I'm done doing labs for the time being. I've shifted to one of the largest firms in the city because they largely do museums and hospitality. And the atmosphere is SO much more laid back than other firms for which I've worked. You know how some places are so stuffy and stodgy and you feel like you have to sit up straight and chew with your mouth closed? Not here. I'll be happy to send you a PM with the name of the firm if you like as well as any other information.
I take it you're considering a move across to the east coast? And just in time for fall in New England!! Better hurry, though. The fall doesn't last long around here. 
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elijah
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| Joined: | Wed Nov 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Arizona USA |
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Posted: Mon Sep 8th, 2008 01:17 am |
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| punchlist, i too am planning to move to boston. i have been working in healthcare for 7-8 years. i have been to bsa's website but it's a little hard to get a feel for firms by just looking at their website. Any insider info would be most welcome. thanks.
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wograr
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| Joined: | Thu Jul 21st, 2005 |
| Location: | Boston, Massachusetts USA |
| Posts: | 403 |
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Posted: Mon Sep 8th, 2008 11:42 pm |
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velcro wrote: I would like to know the overall culture, quality and quantity of work in the Boston Area. Can anyone here share the good firms to work for with good professional growth, great projects, benefits and all that matters for a great firm to work for?
TIA
V
Boston actually has more architects per capita than any other city in the US. There are A LOT of firms. As for quality...if you have that many...some of them must be good, right? Arch. Record, about 2 or 3 months ago, did an article on up-and-coming Boston firms that are really producing cutting edge work.
The hardest part will be deciding what size firm you want to work for and what kind of work you want to do...because the list goes ooooooonnnnn.
One thing to consider, however, is the market right now. The job market in Boston is not exactly a great right now. So, make sure that the firm you want to go to has a nice backlog of work.
Good Luck.
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velcro
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| Joined: | Tue Feb 12th, 2008 |
| Location: | Denver, Colorado USA |
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Posted: Sat Sep 20th, 2008 10:10 pm |
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Wograr,
Thanks for your valuable input, as far as the market goes it is quite bad even here so let me see how my pursuit goes and may be I'd ask you Bostonians here if I have any specific concerns.
Thanks in advance again ~ V
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besse
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Posted: Sat Sep 20th, 2008 11:30 pm |
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Hey there...
I just moved away from Boston in August after having lived there for several years. I would consider it a great town for architects--particularly young ones. There are a bevy of firms and types of work to choose from, not to mention a mountain of resources (namely the BSA) and outside-of-work activities ranging from design exhibitions, lectures everywhere/time you turn around and volunteer opportunites. Boston is an extremely transient city and of the many friends, colleagues and aquaintances I met during my time there, none of them are true Bostonians; nobody that lives there is actually from the city. The negative insight I would share is that (I think) it's a tough city to break into professionally, no matter which discipline you're targeting. If you are not from there (and already have contacts on the ground) or if you are not affiliated with Harvard or MIT, it can be a difficult to get your foot in the door, so to speak. I had a stroke of luck and found a job almost immediately after landing there; even better it was a job/fantastic group of people that I really enjoyed...but I know I was lucky for this to happen. The bulk of the work in this particular firm dealt with high-end residential (addition/renovation to historic properties in and around the city) and a splash of commercial/institutional. Luckily, the economic downturn affecting the rest of the country did not seem to affect the high-end residential market in New England, so there was still plenty of work; this may have changed in the last two months, I'm not certain. I guess the best advice I would pass along is to keep an open mind in your job search. High-end residential or even historic architecture is not what I had in mind when moving there initially, but I ended up really enjoying it and gained great experience. Benefits, pay, etc. are the same there as in the rest of the country--disproportionate to what you think/hope they should be... 
Just a few other general thoughts...it's a very clean city and easy on the eyes, has a very intelligent populace, is well located for any weekend trip imaginable (from the Cape to the Maine coast to hiking the Presidentials in NH to hopping on a NYC-bound bus...you get the idea), is VERY pedestrian-friendly (like many people, I easily survived without a car and this is undoubtedly the aspect I miss the most) has a wild and die-hard bicycling culture, is a very safe city, enjoys four distinct seasons and everything (from meetings to transportation choices) revolves around whether or not the Red Sox are playing.
Last edited on Sun Sep 21st, 2008 02:46 am by besse
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velcro
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Posted: Fri Sep 26th, 2008 03:09 pm |
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Thanks for your informaition. I really appreciate it.
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RQ8
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| Joined: | Mon Jun 16th, 2008 |
| Location: | Long Beach, CA |
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Posted: Sun Sep 28th, 2008 08:00 am |
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I agree 100% with besse. I grew up in (and used to live/work in) Boston. If you're not part of the Harvard or MIT clique, you'll be at a HUGE professional disadvantage for your entire career. Yes, you can survive there, but you'll never break into the good positions with the good firms or get the really good projects.
Boston's nature as a city with a very firmly-entrenched "good-ole-boy" system was one of my biggest reasons in deciding to leave there and move to the west coast. Out here it's WAY better and more open/fair. You can succeed completely on your own merits. Very liberating.
I worked at a quasi-governmental agency in Boston for a while too. You simply would not believe the amount of buddy-buddy neoptism and back-scratching that goes on between family members and old school buddies. It's truly staggering.
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RDK
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| Joined: | Mon Jan 31st, 2005 |
| Location: | Boston, Massachusetts USA |
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Posted: Sun Sep 28th, 2008 05:26 pm |
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Good points RQ8. I totally by-passed the whole get frustrated working for a Harvard or MIT office, having not attended either. I suspected that was the case out there in the Boston offices. Amazing too the way clients will just blindly assume they're working with "the best" with a Harvard or MIT alum principal. They couldn't be more dissuaded in many instances.
Last edited on Sun Sep 28th, 2008 05:26 pm by RDK
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ncarbsucks
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| Joined: | Tue Jan 22nd, 2008 |
| Location: | Heartbreak Hill, Massachusetts USA |
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Posted: Tue Sep 30th, 2008 05:06 am |
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im not from the Hvd/MIT alumni pool, and didint find it to inhibit my ability to get a great job. Some of the most clueless co-workers were from these 2 institutions. They seemed to have their heads stuck in academia instead of real world details. Job market here is not so hot...
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