Profile
Alex F. Schwartz is Professor at the Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment. He is also the chair of the school's Master's program in Public and Urban Policy. He holds a doctorate in Urban Planning and Policy Development from Rutgers University.
Professor Schwartz’s research centers on housing and community development, including public housing and other affordable housing programs, mixed-income housing, fair housing, and community development corporations. While most of his research has focused on housing issues in the United States, he has also studied housing policy in the United Kingdom, and has consulted for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).
Professor Schwartz is the author of Housing Policy in the United States: 4th Edition (Routledge, 2021). He is co-author with Milano colleague Rachel Meltzer of Policy Analysis as Problem Solving: A Flexible and Evidence-Based Framework (Routledge 2018). His research has appeared in such journals as Cityscape, Economic Development Quarterly, Housing Policy Debate, Housing Studies, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, the Journal of Urban Affairs, and the Journal of the American Planning Association. In addition, he served as the Managing Editor for North America for the international journal Housing Studies from 2010 to 2020.
Professor Schwartz is Director of the Milano School's Urban Policy Lab, in which teams of graduate students advise government agencies and nonprofit organizations on a wide array of policy and management issues. He also teaches Policy Analysis, Community Development, and Housing Policy.
In the spring of 2019 New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Professor Schwartz to the city's Rent Guidelines Board, which determines maximum rent increases for nearly 1 million units of rent stabilized housing.
Recent Publications
Housing Policy in the United States: 4th Edition (New York: Routledge, 2021).
“The Rental Housing Demonstration Program and its Current and Projected Consumption of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits” (with Kirk McClure). Cityscape 23, 2 (2021): 9-25. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol23num2/ch1.pdf
“Neighbourhood Opportunity, Racial Segregation, and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program in the United States” (with Kirk McClure). Housing Studies, DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2021.1950646
“The case for universal rental assistance (with Kirk McClure). The Appeal (May 15, 2020). https://theappeal.org/rental-assistance-housing-choice-voucher/
“Renters still left out in the cold despite temporary coronavirus protection” (with Kirk McClure). The Conversation (April 23, 2020). https://theconversation.com/renters-still-left-out-in-the-cold-despite-temporary-coronavirus-protection-136550
“Mixed-Income Housing in New York City: Achievements, Lessons and Challenges of an Enduring Mayoral Commitment” (with Sasha Tsenkova). Forthcoming, 2020, in Mark Joseph and Amy Khare, eds., What Works to Promote Inclusive, Equitable Mixed-Income Communities (San Francisco: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco). https://case.edu/socialwork/nimc/sites/case.edu.nimc/files/2020-05/Schwartz%20WWV%20NewYork%202020.pdf
“The Uses and Limits of Architectural Design for Affordable Rental Housing: Case Studies of the Complexities of New York City, USA.” (with John Goering) Les Cahiers de la Recherche Architectural Urbaine et Paysagère vol 8, 2020. https://journals.openedition.org/craup/4507
“New York City’s Affordable Housing Plans and the Limits of Local Initiative.” Cityscape 21, 3 (2019): 355-388. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol21num3/ch19.pdf“
“Small Area Fair Market Rents, Race, and Neighborhood Opportunity” (with Kirk McClure) Cityscape 21, 3 (2019): 49-69. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol21num3/ch2.pdf
“Housing for People with Disabilities: A Review of State Olmstead and HUD Consolidated Plans” (with Lynn McCormick and Chiara Passerini). Journal of Planning Education and Research forthcoming, 2019.
Policy Analysis as Problem Solving: A Flexible and Evidence-Based Framework (Routledge, 2018) (With Rachel Meltzer)
“Necessary But Not Sufficient: Small Area Fair Market Rents and Voucher Access to Opportunity Neighborhoods.” Article Commentary, Housing Policy Debate 29,1 (2018): 62-63.
Review of “No Simple Solutions: Transforming Public Housing in Chicago” by Susan Popkin. Housing Studies 33,2 (2018): 340-342
"Future Prospects for Public Housing in the United States: Lessons from the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program. Housing Policy Debate 33,2 (2017):789-806
“The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, Community Development, and Fair Housing: A Response to Orfield et. al. Housing Policy Debate 26,2 (2016): 276-283
“Housing Affordability and Health: Evidence from New York City” (with Rachel Meltzer). Housing Policy Debate, 26,1 (2016): 80-114
“Housing Choice Voucher Location Patterns a Decade Later” (with Kirk McClure and Lydia B. Taghavi) Housing Policy Debate 25, 2 (2015): 215-233
“The Essential if Problematic Role of FHA Mortgage Insurance.” Housing Policy Debate 24, 3 (2014): 666-669.
“Underwater America: How the So-Called Housing Recovery is Bypassing Many American Communities” (With Peter Dreier, Saqib Bhatti, Rob Call, Gregory Squires). Report published by Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at the University of California, Berkeley, May, 2014.
“Underwater America: How the So-Called Housing Recovery is Bypassing Many American Communities” (With Peter Dreier, Saqib Bhatti, Rob Call, Gregory Squires). Report published by Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at the University of California, Berkeley, May, 2014. http://diversity.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/HaasInsitute_UnderwaterAmerica_PUBLISH_0.pdf
"US Housing Policy in the Age of Obama: From Crisis to Stasis." International Journal of Housing Policy 12,2: (2012): 227-240.
"Lessons from the Housing Crisis" Family and Consumer Science Journal (40, 1): 3-14 (2011).
"The Credit Crunch and Subsidized Low-Income Housing: The UK and US Experience Compared." Housing and the Built Envirobnment 26,3 (2011): 353-374.
"After Year 15: Challenges to the Preservation of Housing Financed with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits." Housing Policy Debate 19, 2 (2008): 161-294 (with Edwin Melendez).
"Year 15 and Preservation of Tax-Credit Housing for Low-Income Households: An Assessment of Risk" Housing Studies, 23 1 (2008): 67-87 (with Edwin Melendez)
"Reversing the Tide: Will State and Local Governments House the Poor as Federal Direct Subsidies Decline?" Journal of the American Planning Association 74, 1 (2008): 122-135 (With Elizabeth Mueller)
"Mortgage Crisis: Change not terms, but regulations" (Newsday, Aug. 19th, 2007).
"New York City and Subsidized Housing: Impacts and Lessons of New York City's $4 Billion Capital Budget Housing Plan" Housing Policy Debate 10, 4(1999): 839-877.
"From Confrontation to Collaboration? Banks, Community Groups, and the Implementation of Community Reinvestment Agreements" (pdf) Housing Policy Debate. 9, 3 (1998): 631-662.
"Mixed-Income Housing: Unanswered Questions" (with Kian Tajbakhsh). Cityscape 3, 2 (1997): 71-92.
Urban Policy Lab for Non-Major (Spring 2021)