"multi-story" => "two stories tall maximum, and half of ground space is parking lot"
Places like Paris are entirely (or nearly entirely) 4-5 stories tall, with no parking lots. This allows incredible density simultaneously with great livability (especially for pedestrians). (See [1])
So technically the gp was incorrect, but I would posit there are few (any?) places in Mountain View, or even most of the bay, with a floor area ratio (FAR) > 1.0.
The only reason people move to Paris is because the country is hyper-centralised and 'all' the jobs are in Paris. That's also the only reason that limits the rate at which people are moving away from Paris. Housing in Paris is unaffordable for low wages. People who can get rid of their job move to smaller cities across the country, people who cannot move to suburbs and undergo more and more commuting.
Concentration of jobs in the same place, unaffordable housing, does this ring a bell? :-)
Places like Paris are entirely (or nearly entirely) 4-5 stories tall, with no parking lots. This allows incredible density simultaneously with great livability (especially for pedestrians). (See [1])
So technically the gp was incorrect, but I would posit there are few (any?) places in Mountain View, or even most of the bay, with a floor area ratio (FAR) > 1.0.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#Cityscape