Trained an urban planner, a historical geographer, and in ethnographic methods, he is interested in how formal and informal regulation of publicly-accessible space affects, empowers, and often disenfranchises marginalized people. Focusing on public space allows him to pursue two related research agendas: gentrification and the criminalization of homelessness. In addition to writing chapters for edited books and contributing to professional reports he has recently published articles in Urban Studies (see here and here) and Cities. He is currently in contract with Palgrave Macmillan to write a book titled Rights to Public Space: Law, Culture, and Gentrification in the American West.