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California housing crisis podcast: How do Google and Facebook figure in the problem?

A woman walks past a Google sign in San Francisco in May.
A woman walks past a Google sign in San Francisco in May.
(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
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As California’s economy has boomed over the last decade, so too have housing costs. The growth by massive Silicon Valley tech companies has led to calls from Gov. Gavin Newsom and others for them to contribute more to resolve the state’s housing problems.

On this episode of “Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast,” we debate tech’s role in California’s housing crisis and analyze Google’s recent decision to invest $1 billion in Bay Area housing, primarily by opening up its land for development.

Our guests are Marisa Kendall, who covers tech and housing for the Bay Area News Group, and Catherine Bracy, founder of the TechEquity Collaborative, which advocates for tech companies and workers to get more involved in housing issues.

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We also break down the impacts of the latest deal between Newsom and legislative leaders to add harsh penalties in the most extreme cases of cities and of counties refusing for years to follow state requirements to accommodate new growth.

Gimme Shelter,” a biweekly podcast that looks at why it’s so expensive to live in California and what the state can do about it, features Liam Dillon, who covers housing affordability issues for the Los Angeles Times Sacramento bureau, and Matt Levin, data and housing reporter for CALmatters.

You can subscribe to “Gimme Shelter” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Play and Overcast.

Google promises $1 billion to help fix Bay Area housing crisis it helped create »

liam.dillon@latimes.com

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@dillonliam

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