Steve has worked at the Kinder Institute since 2020. His role includes helping lead the State of Housing in Harris County and Houston report since 2022 and contributing to other housing, governance, and policing research. His peer-reviewed work has appeared in Journal of the American Planning Association, Journal of Urban Affairs, Economic Development Quarterly, and Journal of Planning Education & Research, along with other venues. Steve has a PhD and Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a BA in English (creative writing emphasis) and American Studies from the University of Iowa. Prior to his research career, Steve worked as an urban planner in Oklahoma, a manager at a family-run grocery and specialty wine store in Iowa, and a newspaper reporter in South Dakota.