Topics | Speeches

Myron Orfield

Myron Orfield has become "the most influential social demographer in America's burgeoning regional movement," wrote Neal Peirce in his nationally distributed column in spring 2002. Both Peirce and David Broder, of the Washington Post, have featured Orfield's research on social and fiscal disparities in the United States, and their political implications.

As president of Minneapolis-based Ameregis Corporation, Orfield has produced more than 40 studies of major metropolitan areas, detailing patterns of regional disparity and inefficient, sprawling land use. The firm's studies are the backbone of Orfield's book, American Metropolitics: The New Suburban Reality, published by the Brookings Institution Press in March 2002.

Orfield and his research have been featured on PBS' "The Newshour, ABC News' "Nightline," National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" and "Morning Edition," US News and World Report, Business Week, National Journal, Crain's Chicago Business, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.

Orfield served five terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and one term in the State Senate, authoring a series of sweeping laws that brought about metropolitan reform that strengthened the nation's most substantial regional government and reformed land use and fiscal equity laws in the Twin Cities area. His legislative credentials serve him well as he works with local land use organizations across the nation, making the case for regional approaches to metropolitan governance.

American Metropolitics provides an eye-opening analysis of the economic, racial, environmental, and political trends of the 25 largest metropolitan regions in the United States. Orfield's groundbreaking first book, Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Brookings Institution Press: 1997), redefined the field of regional studies.

In 2001, he formed Ameregis, a company that grew out of his work with the Metropolitan Area Research Corporation (MARC), a non-profit affiliate he founded.

He has served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Improving the Future of U.S. Cities and the Policy Council of the Association of Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) and presently serves on the board of the Brookings Institution's Center on Urban & Metropolitan Policy. Orfield served on the directorate of the American Planning Association's (APA) Growing Smart Project and drafted the APA's uniform regional tax equity statute. Orfield has written broadly in legal and planning journals in the areas of growth management, state and local finance, and regional governance.

Orfield has a B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Minnesota, conducted graduate work at Princeton University and earned a law degree from the University of Chicago, where he served as a member of the law review. After working as a law clerk for a federal appellate judge, Orfield was appointed Assistant Attorney General of Minnesota and appeared in significant cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and state and federal appellate courts. He also has practiced in the private sector and currently teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Speech Topics

American Metropolitics — The "suburbs" are often spoken of as a monolith, but in fact they are quite diverse. All types of suburbs—at-risk suburbs, bedroom-developing suburbs, and affluent job centers—are hurt by the status quo of racial and economic segregation and fiscal inequality in the region. What policy reforms would benefit all types of communities, and how are these reforms best achieved? Data and maps from the 25 largest metropolitan regions in the United States are used to make the case for regionalism.

Regionalism and Social Equity — Increasing geographic stratification, which has already had devastating consequences for the minority poor, has begun to curtail the opportunity structure and the quality of life of America's working and middle class. A region as a whole is damaged when the central city and at-risk suburbs are overwhelmed by racial segregation and social separation. Politically feasible, regional reforms can lessen the disparities between communities and restore social equity to a region.

Regionalism and the Environment — Sprawling development patterns across the US consume land at many times the rate of population growth and threaten public health, the environment and the overall quality of regional life. Environmental advocates can work with fiscal and social equity partners to lobby for policies that can curb sprawling development and strengthen local land use planning.

Regionalism and Fiscal Equity — Local approaches to growth and economic development create competition that ultimately hurts all parts of the region. Instead, localities should work together to advocate new regional, state and federal policies such as: greater fiscal equity to equalize resources among local governments, smarter growth management to support more sustainable development practices, and accountable metropolitan governance to improve regional transportation and land-use planning.

Politics in the Suburbs — In the twenty-first century, American politics is almost entirely metropolitan politics. Today's metropolitan politics is based on an inaccurate model of poor cities and rich suburbs. A new metropolitics must understand the diversity of US suburbs and build a broad bipartisan movement for greater regional cooperation. Statewide maps of indexed election results show how races are lost and won in the pivotal at-risk and bedroom-developing suburbs.

Last updated November 18, 2002

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