how we work
How we work has a lot to do with who we are.
We've never been interested in doing things a certain way just because that's how firms are supposed to operate. Over the years, we've figured out what matters to us, what makes for good work, and the kind of people we want to work alongside.
Some of those things have changed as we've grown. Others haven't budged since day one.
These are our values - they are the things we believe in, the choices we make, and the standards we hold ourselves to. They're also a pretty good way to understand what it's like to work with us.
the Things that make opd, opd.
1
WE DON'T SHOW UP WITH ALL THE ANSWERS.
We know planning. We know design. We know how communities work. But we don't know your community better than you do.
We listen, ask questions, challenge assumptions, and bring our experience to the table. The best solutions come from combining what we know with what the people who live there know.
Your community isn't a blank canvas. And we're not here to pretend it is.
THE PEOPLE YOU MEET ARE THE PEOPLE YOU GET.
We don't believe in sending the A-team to the interview and introducing an entirely different team after the contract is signed.
The people you meet are the people who will be doing the work, answering your calls, attending your meetings, and helping you figure things out when something unexpected comes up. We stand behind our recommendations, take responsibility for the details, and stay involved when things get complicated.
Our clients know who they're working with. We like it that way.
DIFFERENT PLACES DESERVE DIFFERENT ANSWERS.
We don't do cookie-cutter.
A small Montana town doesn't need the same solution as a coastal Mississippi community. A downtown in Georgia has different challenges than a neighborhood in Hawaii. That's what makes this work interesting.
We believe good planning and design should come from understanding a place, not pulling something off the shelf and changing the name on the cover.
WE’RE INTENTIONAL ABOUT STAYING WHO WE ARE.
We're trying to be really good at what we do.
We've never believed that more offices, more employees, or more layers of management automatically make a better firm. We measure it by the work we produce, the people we get to work with, and whether our clients want us back. We're building the kind of firm we would want to hire, not the kind someone else wants us to become.
We're not interested in being everything to everyone. We're interested in being really good at being OPD.
2
WE TAKE THE WORK SERIOUSLY. OURSELVES, LESS SO.
We care about getting things right. We care about deadlines, details, good design, and doing what we said we'd do. But we also believe there's room for humor, personality, and a little fun along the way.
We're planners and landscape architects, but we're also parents, neighbors, hikers, gardeners, travelers, dog people, and people with strong opinions about things that have absolutely nothing to do with work.
We hire people, not just résumés. And we believe who you work with matters just as much as what you're working on.
We bring our experience to the table. We also bring ourselves.
WE'RE ACCOUNTABLE TO PEOPLE, NOT JUST PROJECTS.
Our work shapes places where people live, raise families, open businesses, spend time outdoors, and build their lives.
That's a responsibility we take seriously.
We believe our work should serve the people who will live with its outcomes, not just the people who commissioned it. That means listening beyond the usual voices, considering the long-term consequences of our recommendations, and remembering that every line on a map represents a real place to someone.
These aren't just projects to us. They're places people call home.
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