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Research Statement

Steve's research focuses on the intersection of housing, schools, neighborhoods and crime. His work addresses a number of important policy issues including the impact of sea level rise of residential location choices, impact of public investment in light-rail transit on neighborhoods, how school segregation influences academic achievement , political affiliation and crime, the causes of neighborhood gentrification, lead-based paint and low-income housing as well as ongoing research that examines the role of peers and youth environment on adult criminal outcomes. He works extensively with large micro-datasets and has a number of studies based on data and policies in Charlotte, NC and Denver, CO.

Bio

Steve joined the University of Colorado - Boulder in the summer of 2016 and currently is the faculty director of the MS in Real Estate program and research director for the CU Real Estate Center. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Colorado, a MS in urban planning from the University of North Carolina and a BS in economics from Georgetown University. He was previously at the University of North Carolina Charlotte where he was positioned in both economics and public policy and was the faculty director for the real estate center.

Beyond research, Steve has extensive teaching and consulting experience in conducting cost-benefit analysis as well as policy evaluation. He is currently a regular instructor for undergraduate and masters classes in real estate finance and economics and has taught doctoral and masters level classes that teach students how to conduct cost-benefit analysis as well as a variety of statistical and quantitative methods. Steve has conducted studies of the economic costs and benefits of the 16 North Carolina public higher education campuses on the state economy; assessed the need for affordable housing in a number of communities throughout Colorado; studied the impact of the legalization of marijuana on property markets; as well as conducted cost-benefit analysis of the creation of downtown business improvement districts for a number of local governments throughout the state of Colorado.

Contact Information

Email: stephen.billings@colorado.edu

Twitter: @BillingsEcon