Use google earth to look at California. Most of the state is undeveloped. California is not running out of space to build homes on.
This is not about the ecology or because there is no room for more homes, this is about control, nothing more, nothing less.
What do slave holders control? Answer: Food, housing, transportation ( movement), clothing, and healthcare.
So?....In which direction is the U.S. moving?
By the way....When the oligarchy starts rounding up the dissenters they won't use cattle cars. They will use big yellow school buses and the sheeple will compliantly board them. Why? Because that is what the government trained them to do.
A lot of it is not readily buildable due to terrain, proximity to water supply and "protected" environments.