Profile
Alex F. Schwartz is Professor at the Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment and is the former 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, and fair housing. 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 second edition 2024). 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
"Where is the Housing Shortage?" (with Kirk McClure). forthcoming, Housing Policy Debate https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511482.2024.2334011
“Homes Are Expensive. Building More Won’t Solve the Problem.” Barron’s June 30, 2023 (With Kirk McClure). https://www.barrons.com/articles/housing-crisis-build-more-homes-1342c24f
“The Geography of Absence: Cities, Towns, and Suburbs with No LIHTC Housing” (with Kirk McClure) Housing Policy Debate 33, 4 (2023: 963-982).
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.