Myron Orfield

Professor of Law; Executive Director, Institute on Race & Poverty

Myron Orfield

N150C/420 Mondale Hall
229–19th Ave. South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

612-625-7976

orfield@umn.edu

University of Minnesota, B.A.
University of Chicago, J.D.

Professor Myron Orfield is the Executive Director of the Institute on Race & Poverty, a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and an affiliate faculty member at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. He teaches and writes in the fields of civil rights, state and local government, state and local finance, land use, questions of regional governance, and the legislative process. For 2005-06, Professor Orfield served as the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Urban and Regional Affairs.

Professor Orfield graduated, summa cum laude, from the University of Minnesota, was a graduate student at Princeton University, and has a J.D. from the University of Chicago, where he was a member of the University of Chicago Law Review. Following law school, he clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit and then returned to the University of Chicago Law School as a Research Associate and Bradley Fellow at the Center for Studies in Criminal Justice. After working as an associate at Faegre & Benson in Minneapolis, he served as a Special Assistant Attorney General of Minnesota in the Solicitor General's Division.

In 1990, Professor Orfield was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, where he served five terms, and to the Minnesota Senate in 2000, where he served one term. There he was the architect of a series of important changes in land use, fair housing, and school and local government aid programs. His first book, Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Brookings 1997), a study of local government structure and demographics, relates to these efforts. For over a decade, Professor Orfield has been president of a nationally respected regional research organization undertaking studies involving the legal, demographic and land use profiles of various American metropolitan areas. His second book, American Metropolitics: The New Suburban Reality (Brookings 2002), is a compilation of his work involving the nation's 25 largest regions. His most recent book, Region: Planning the Future of the Twin Cities (U of M Press, 2010), co-authored with Thomas Luce, director of research at the Institute on Race and Poverty, examines the successes and failures of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council’s regional planning and policy work and includes recommendations for responsible, environmentally sound urban and suburban planning.

Professor Orfield is a member of the National Institute of Health’s Network on Inequality, Complexity, and Health, a multidisciplinary group of experts exploring areas where policy change or intervention could significantly improve the burden of disease among population groups and the first group to use systems science methods to study health inequities. He was recently appointed to the Minnesota Judicial Branch’s Committee for Equality and Justice, which is charged with ensuring equal access and unbiased treatment for court users and employees.

For further information on Professor Orfield, please consult his curriculum vitae.

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Region: Planning the Future of the Twin Cities (University of Minnesota Press, 2010) (with Thomas F. Luce, Jr.)

American Metropolitics: The New Suburban Reality (Brookings Institution Press, 2002)

Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Brookings Institution Press, 1997)

Book Chapters

Linking Housing and School Integration to Growth Management, in Integrating Schools in a Changing Society: New Policies and Legal Options for a Multiracial Generation (Erica Frankenberg & Elizabeth Debray, eds., University of North Carolina Press, 2011)

Beyond Segregation: Toward a Shared Vision of Our Regions, in Breakthrough Communities: Sustainability and Justice in the Next American Metropolis (M. Paloma Pavel, ed., MIT Press, 2009)

Governing American Metropolitan Areas: Spatial Policy and Regional Governance, in Megaregions: Planning for Global Competitiveness (Catherine L. Ross, ed., Island Press, 2009) (with Thomas F. Luce, Jr.)

Impediments to the Integration of Immigrants: A Case Study in the Twin Cities, in Twenty-First Century Gateways: Immigrant Incorporation in Suburban America (Audrey Singer, Susan Wiley Hardwick & Caroline Brettell, eds., Brookings Institution Press, 2008) (with Katherine Fennelly)

Atlanta Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability, in Urban Sprawl: A Comprehensive Reference Guide (David Soule, ed., Greenwood Press, 2006)

Building Regional Coalitions between Cities and Suburbs, in Growing Smarter: Achieving Livable Communities, Environmental Justice, and Regional Equity (Robert D. Bullard, ed., MIT Press, 2006)

The Region: The True City, in Toward the Livable City (Emilie Buchwald, ed., Milkweed Editions, 2003)

Politics and Regionalism, in Urban Sprawl: Causes, Consequences & Policy Responses (Gregory D. Squires, ed., Urban Institute Press, 2002)

Tax Equity and Land Use, in Charter of the New Urbanism (Michael Leccese & Kathleen McCormick, eds., McGraw Hill, 2000)

The Need for Coalition, in Metro Futures: Economic Solutions for Cities and Their Suburbs (Daniel D. Luria & Joel Rogers, eds., Beacon Press, 1999)

The Need for Tax Base Sharing, in The Value of Land: Annual Review (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 1998) (debate with Professor William Fischel)

Model Tax Sharing Legislation Statute, in Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook: Model Statutes for Planning and the Management of Change (American Planning Association, Phase I interim ed., 1996)

Tax Equity Devices and Tax Relief Programs, in Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook: Model Statutes for Planning and the Management of Change (American Planning Association, Phase I interim ed., 1996)

Journal Articles

Regional Strategies for Racial Integration of Schools and Housing Post-Parents Involved, 29 Law & Inequality 149 (2011)

A Missed Opportunity: Minnesota's Failed Experiment with Choice-Based Integration, 35 William Mitchell Law Review 936 (2009) (with Margaret Hobday & Geneva Finn)

Parcel Data for Research and Policy, 3 Geography Compass 698 (2009) (with Steven M. Manson, Heather A. Sander, Debarchana Ghosh, J. Michael Oakes, William J. Craig, Thomas F. Luce, Jr., Eric Myott & Shipeng Sun)

The Minnesota Fiscal Disparities Act of 1971: The Twin Cities' Struggle and Blueprint for Regional Cooperation, 33 William Mitchell Law Review 591 (2007) (with Nicholas Wallace)

The Region and Taxation: School Finance, Cities, and the Hope for Regional Reform, 55 Buffalo Law Review 91 (2007)

Choice, Equal Protection, and Metropolitan Integration: The Hope of the Minneapolis Desegregation Settlement, 24 Law and Inequality 269 (2006)

Land Use and Housing Policies to Reduce Concentrated Poverty and Racial Segregation, 33 Fordham Urban Law Journal 877 (2006)

Racial Integration and Community Revitalization: Applying the Fair Housing Act to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, 58 Vanderbilt Law Review 1747 (2005)

Segregation and Environmental Justice, 7 Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology 147 (2005)

Comment, 13 Housing Policy Debate 659 (2003) (commenting on Scott A. Bollen, In Through the Back Door: Social Equity and Regional Governance, 13 Housing Policy Debate 631 (2003))

Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability, 28:2 Forum for Social Economics 33 (Mar. 1999)

Suburbs in Flux, 57 Urban Land 42 (1998) (with Jonathan Miller)

Economic and Racial Polarization in Twin Cities Schools, 17 Hamline Journal of Public Law & Policy 271 (1996)

Deterrence, Perjury, and the Heater Factor: An Exclusionary Rule in the Chicago Criminal Courts, 63 University of Colorado Law Review 75 (1992)

The Exclusionary Rule and Deterrence: An Empirical Study of Chicago Police Narcotics Officers, 54 University of Chicago Law Review 1016 (1987) (comment)

Documents and Reports

The Choice Is Ours: Expanding Educational Opportunity for all Twin Cities Children (May 15, 2009) (with Institute on Race & Poverty staff)

A National Survey of Local Land-Use Regulations: Steps Toward a Beginning (Robert W. Burchell & Michael L. Lahr, Principal Investigators, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Affairs, Rutgers University, July 2008) (Associate Investigator)

Growth Pressures on Sensitive Natural Areas in DNR's Central Region (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, 2006)

Atlanta Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Oct. 2003) (with Thomas Luce)

Miami Valley Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in the Miami Valley (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Oct. 2003) (with Thomas Luce)

Toledo Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in Toledo (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Aug. 2003)

Genesee County Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in Genesee County, Michigan (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Apr. 2003) (with Thomas Luce)

Michigan Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in Michigan (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Apr. 2003) (with Thomas Luce)

New Jersey Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in New Jersey (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Apr. 2003) (with Thomas Luce)

Connecticut Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Prosperity in Connecticut (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Mar. 2003) (with Thomas Luce)

Economic and Racial Segregation in Greater Miami's Elementary Schools: Trends Shaping Metropolitan Growth (Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, 2003) (with Anne Discher & Thomas Luce)

The Minnesota Statewide Racial Profiling Report: All Participating Jurisdictions (Institute on Race & Poverty and the Council on Crime & Justice, 2003)

Ohio Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Dec. 2002) (with Thomas Luce)

California Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in California (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Apr. 2002) (with Thomas Luce)

Wisconsin Metropatterns: Regional Cooperation, Economic Growth, and Environmental Protection (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Feb. 2002) (with Thomas Luce)

Valuing America's First Suburbs: A Policy Agenda for Older Suburbs in the Midwest (Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, 2002) (with Robert Puentes)

Boston Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in Greater Boston (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Oct. 2001) (with Thomas Luce & Benjamin Oleson)

Erie Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in the Erie Region (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Oct. 2001) (with Thomas Luce)

Northeast Ohio Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in the Northeast Ohio Region (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Sept. 2001) (with Thomas Luce, Robert Kleidman & Benjamin Oleson)

Ohio's Mahoning Valley Regional Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Sept. 2001) (with Thomas Luce)

Cincinnati Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in the Cincinnati Region (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Aug. 2001) (with Thomas Luce)

Central Valley Metropatterns: Regional Challenges in California's Central Valley (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Jan. 2001)

Puget Sound Metropatterns: Social Separation and Sprawl in the Puget Sound Region (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Dec. 2000)

Kentucky's Rural/Metropolitan Fiscal Divide: A Statewide Agenda for Sustainable Communities (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, May 2000)

Los Angeles Metropatterns: Social Separation and Sprawl in the Los Angeles Region (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, May 2000)

Denver Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Apr. 2000)

Saginaw Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Oct. 2000)

San Diego Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Aug. 1999)

St. Louis Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Aug. 1999)

Washington Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, July 1999)

Pittsburgh Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, June 1999)

Grand Rapids Area Metropolitics: A West Michigan Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, May 1999)

Seattle Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability in the Puget Sound Region (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, May 1999)

Detroit Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Jan. 1999)

A Region Divided: The State of Growth in Washington, D.C. (Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, 1999)

Atlanta Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Program, American Land Institute, Dec. 1998)

Portland Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Program, American Land Institute, July 1998)

Milwaukee Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Program, American Land Institute, May 1998)

San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability Metropolitan Area Program, American Land Institute, May 1998)

Baltimore Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Program, American Land Institute, Mar. 1998)

Chicago Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Members of the U.S. Congress (Metropolitan Area Program, American Land Institute, 1998)

Philadelphia Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Metropolitan Area Program, American Land Institute, Mar. 1997)

Chicago Regional Report: A Report to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (Metropolitan Area Program, American Land Institute, Oct. 1996)

Other Publications

When the Feds Won't Act: School Desegregation, State Courts, and Minnesota's The Choice is Yours Program, 17 Poverty & Race (bimonthly newsletter of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council) (Jan./Feb. 2008) (with Baris Gumus-Dawes)

Expanding Educational Opportunity Through School and Housing Choice, 37 CURA Reporter 19 (Summer 2007) (with Nicholas Wallace)

Access to Growing Job Centers in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, 36 CURA Reporter 3 (Spring 2006) (with Thomas Luce & Jill Mazullo)

An Activist's Guide to Metropolitics: Building Coalitions for Reform in America's Metropolitan Areas (Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, Oct. 2003) (with Thomas Luce)

Regional Coalition-Building and the Inner Suburbs, Shelterforce (Jan./Feb. 1998)

Conflict or Consensus?: Forty Years of Minnesota Metropolitan Politics, 16:4 Brookings Review 31 (Fall 1998)

Metropolitics: Coalitions for Regional Reform, 15:1 Brookings Review 6 (Winter 1997)

The "Push-Pull" of Regional Polarization, Lusk Forum (University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate) (1997)

Brief for Myron Orfield et al., as Amici Curiae Supporting Plaintiffs, Jackson v. MERS Inc., 770 N.W.2d 487 (2009) (Minn. filed Apr. 21, 2008)

Brief for Housing Scholars and Research & Advocacy Organizations as Amici Curiae Supporting Respondents, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School Dist. No. 1, 127 S.Ct. 2738 (2006) (U.S. filed Oct. 10, 2006)

Brief for Myron Orfield and john a. powell as Amici Curiae Supporting Appellants, In re Adoption of the 2003 Low Income Housing Tax Credit Qualified Allocation Plan, 369 N.J. Super. 2, 848 A.2d 1 (2004)

COURSES

Local Government
Land Use Planning

Seminars

Cities and Suburbs
Smart Growth