Facebook is investing in affordable housing in California's Silicon Valley, the latest in a string of ventures that have taken the social network far beyond its humble roots in a Harvard dorm room.
Details of an agreement between the tech giant, which is planning to expand its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, and advocates for affordable housing in Silicon Valley were announced on Friday. The five-year agreement will see Facebook spend approximately $20 million to construct affordable units and assist tenants facing eviction, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
Affordable housing has long been in short supply in Silicon Valley, and the lack of it has required thousands of janitors, food workers, and other low-wage workers who toil in the many office parks of the region to commute from far away. One estimate in 2014 found that more than 700,000 low-wage workers in the Silicon Valley counties of Santa Clara and San Mateo must commute 50 miles or more each day.
Activists have criticized Facebook in particular for expanding its office footprint without a clear plan to address income inequality and affordable housing, according to the Guardian.
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The new agreement could alleviate some of the pressure that low-wage workers in the area feel from landlords who want them to move out so they can raise rents. Part of the $20 million will go to a tenant assistance fund to provide legal help for people facing eviction.
Half of the funds, meanwhile, will go to community groups to identify opportunities for more affordable housing development in East Palo Alto, Calif., according to the Mercury News. That city abuts Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters and is home to a racially and economically diverse population, with 16 percent of residents living below the poverty line.
"The current path is unsustainable. We have a housing and transportation crisis in Silicon Valley (and) in the Bay Area," Facebook Vice President of Communications and Public Policy told the Mercury News. "We know that either we will come together and address this crisis or Silicon Valley will not be Silicon Valley in 20 or 30 years. It will move to other parts of the country and world."