Ira J. Goldstein, PhD

Ira Goldstein is Principal and Founder of IJG Urban Advisors, LLC, (IJGUA), a newly formed consultancy that focuses on issues broadly within the housing and community development subject matter. IJGUA provides research and data-based advice and counsel on questions that practitioners, investors (for- and not-for-profit) and policymakers tackle as they design and evaluate policies, programs, and investments.

Previously, Goldstein created and served as President of the Policy Solutions group at Reinvestment Fund (1999 through 2023), and then as its Senior Advisor. In those capacities, Goldstein designed and led the conduct of spatial and statistical analyses in communities across the US. Goldstein’s studies focused on mortgage lending disparities (including reverse mortgages, mortgage foreclosures, and predatory/abusive lending practices), evictions, racial bias in home appraisals and tax assessments, and other matters of community development import. His work supported civil rights and consumer protection cases brought under the federal Fair Housing Act. Goldstein created Reinvestment Fund’s proprietary Market Value Analysis (MVA), used to foster investment in communities across the US. He also created the Displacement Risk Ratio (DRR), a tool used to identify areas where residents are at risk of price-related displacement, and contributed to the creation and refinement of Reinvestment Fund’s proprietary Limited Supermarket Access (LSA) and Childcare Gap measures. Goldstein led (former) Philadelphia City Councilmember Parker’s Home Appraisal Bias Task Force and Philadelphia Mayor Parker’s Property Tax Assessment Bias Task Force.

Before joining Reinvestment Fund, Goldstein served as Mid-Atlantic Director of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD (1991-1999).

Goldstein earned a BA, MA, and PhD (Sociology) from Temple University. For almost 40 years, Goldstein has been a Lecturer for University of Pennsylvania’s (Penn) Urban Studies program. His teaching over the years includes research methods, statistics, and housing policy. Goldstein is a Fellow with Penn’s Institute for Urban Research, serves on the Board of Children First PA, is a member of the National Housing Crisis Task Force, co-chair of Philadelphia Mayor Parker’s Assessment Bias Task Force, and is an Advisory Board Member of Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations.