Giving Compass' Take:

• Pacific Standard reports on Google's $1 billion pledge towards the Bay Area's housing crisis and how the growth of the tech industry has put a high premium on available housing, but new construction isn't keeping up with need.

• How can local California governments provide affordable housing for residents, while incorporating more partners and stakeholders?

• Here's another article on how Silicon Valley is pledging to help the housing shortage. 

On Tuesday, Google announced plans to invest $1 billion in land and money to construct housing in the Bay Area over the next decade. The search giant is the third major tech employer this year that has pledged to address an acute housing shortage in its surrounding community. Yet Google's commitment is different, not only for its size, but also for its focus on land.

The bulk of Google's investment will come in the form of property that's worth $750 million, the company says. This is land that Google already owns around the Bay Area and that it now plans to repurpose for residential use, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai explained in a blog post. Parts of the company's present and future office campuses in cities such as Mountain View, San Jose, and San Francisco would be rezoned and converted to "new homes at all income levels ... including housing options for middle and low-income families," Pichai wrote.

Another $250 million will fund incentives for developers to create 5,000 affordable homes in the region. Google estimates it could spur the construction of 20,000 new units.

Read the full article about the Bay Area's housing crisis by Laura Bliss at Pacific Standard.