Research

My research focuses on uncovering understudied patterns and drivers of neighborhood inequality in cities and examining how neighborhood conditions shape health and well-being.  I examine neighborhood inequality across multiple ecological dimensions, including social, environmental, economic, education, and crime.  The rationale driving this comprehensive and transdisciplinary approach is the perspective that neighborhoods are shaped by multiple ecological factors and, in turn, shape multiple outcomes.  Furthermore, I examine how pathways linking place to well-being are stratified by neighborhood racial composition and are shaped by broader factors such as residential segregation and gentrification.

My CV – October 2026

Neighborhood Networks

Research from various disciplines employing multiple methods on a diverse set of populations has demonstrated that neighborhood conditions have an independent influence on individual health and well-being.   Another strand of research shows that neighborhood conditions diffuse or spill over to nearby communities. These two strands of research restrict processes of neighborhood influence to operate only within and between geographically contiguous neighbors. In an increasingly interconnected and mobile society, this assumption is questionable.  This project’s contribution is to demonstrate that social and economic processes extend beyond the focal neighborhood and its geographically adjacent neighbors to a wider network of neighborhoods based on where and how residents move within a city.

Papers

Media and Outreach

Neighborhood Governance

Neighborhood inequality is shaped by municipal governance and enforcement. I have conducted a series of studies demonstrating that biases in law enforcement extend beyond police violence and arrests to more routine forms of governance. Another set of studies examines the use and impact of municipal place-based policies to increase spatial opportunity for disadvantaged population groups.  The goal in these interventions is to enhance the well-being of historically disadvantaged households by improving the places around them, whether through strategic neighborhood investments, residential mobility programs, or both.

Papers

Media and Outreach

Neighborhoods and Schools

A core component of my research focuses on understanding the influence of public schools on neighborhood processes and outcomes.  Schools and neighborhoods are not completely independent of one another but interact in complex ways to influence €youth development. One line of inquiry focuses on the impact of public school closures on neighborhood outcomes. Recent work has focused on the relationship between the availability and expansion of early childhood education on gentrification and segregation.

Papers

Media and Outreach

Neighborhood Safety

Since the first paying passenger connected with an owner/operator driver through the Uber mobile application on July 5, 2010, ridehailing services have grown exponentially around the world. Uber facilitated 1.9 billion rides in just the fourth quarter of 2019 and its largest US competitor, Lyft, provides over a million trips per day. Chinese ridehailing company Didi connected 60 million trips per day in October 2020. Ridehailing drivers now account for up to 13% of vehicle miles travelled in some US cities. Such immense disruption to transportation systems has had far-reaching impacts.  This project examine these impacts, focusing primarily on their influence on alcohol-related injury and death due to road traffic crashes.

Papers

Media and Outreach