Facebook Offers $1 Billion to Ease California's Housing Affordability Crisis

"Facebook on Tuesday committed $1 billion to tackle affordable housing shortages in the Bay Area and around the country," reports Marisa Kendall.

The move cams as a surprise, according to Kendall, but it places the company in very small company among other tech giants paying exorbitant sums of money to help alleviate the state's housing affordability crisis—a crisis that some in the state have blamed on tech companies like Facebook. Google made a similar pledge to spend $1 billion on housing in June 2019. Previously, Facebook had pledged $20 million to help launch a fund that supports housing and jobs in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto.

"Over the next 10 years, that money will help create up to 20,000 homes where teachers, nurses and other essential workers can live closer to the communities they serve, according to an announcement on Facebook’s website. Facebook also unveiled a new partnership with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to build mixed-income homes on excess state-owned land," writes Kendall.