Planned area or ???

[Brandon]

I believe the streets are open to the public but not paved, so they aren't really designed for cars. But, as said, some do take off-road bikes on them.

I think with California City, it was expected there would be a lot of people working at Edwards Air Force Base, and this would be where they lived. But it never really worked out that way.

That's part of it.  The other part is the real estate boom (and later bust).  L. A., as I understand it, got so expensive, people were willing to settle for long drives to and from work.  With the bust, this all changed (at least for now).