(Photo Credit: Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Apple gives billions to help the California housing crisis

Big Tech is brainstorming ways to fight the crisis of homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in California. On Monday, Apple announced it would invest $2.5 billion in the housing crisis.

“As costs skyrocket for renters and potential homebuyers–and as the availability of affordable housing fails to keep pace with the region’s growth–community members like teachers, firefighters, first responders and service workers are increasingly having to make the difficult choice to leave behind the community they have long called home,” Apple said in a blog post. “Nearly 30,000 people left San Francisco between April and June of this year and homeownership in the Bay Area is at a seven-year low.”

At least $1 billion of Apple’s pledge will go toward a mortgage-funding program for first-time homebuyers. Another $1 billion will go toward building low-income to middle-income housing.

Rents in the Bay Area are among the highest in the country, and many residents are fleeing California for neighboring states, like Nevada and Arizona, to escape the escalating cost of living. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, called California’s housing situation “unsustainable.”

“Before the world knew the name Silicon Valley, and long before we carried technology in our pockets, Apple called this region home, and we feel a profound civic responsibility to ensure it remains a vibrant place where people can live, have a family and contribute to the community,” Cook said. “Affordable housing means stability and dignity, opportunity and pride. When these things fall out of reach for too many, we know the course we are on is unsustainable, and Apple is committed to being part of the solution.”