California is huge. France has a long tradition of flimsy lightweight vehicles (Deux Chevaux etc) for local use, this is a logical extension of this cultural norm.
CA is trying. Most of the new apartments being built are mixed use developments. In LA you can live above your bodega above your subway station in some of these apartments.
Maybe in some small pockets of LA. But the vast majority is hills and hills of single family homes. And many suburban cities and towns are actively resisting state measures to make housing affordable and transit available.
