Sounds like it could be a Koelreuteria and in SoCal, I'd guess K. bipinnata. The lantern-like seed pods of this species tend more to the peachy-pinky-salmon tones as they age compared to red-orange of K. paniculata.

Thank you so much, Gardengal. I pass it every day and wonder because it's quite beautiful.

I looked it up in the Western Garden Book, and it looks to be a nice tree so I wonder why we don't see more of them here. Seems like we plant the same crepe myrtles, magnolias, etc.

AKA Chinese flame tree

Koelreuteria sounds like a good bet. Just to be clear the pink lanterns are the seed pods not the flower. The tree bloomed over the summer with bright yellow upright panicles.. In Florida they are considered a bit of a pest tree because they self sow abundantly.

In SoCal, K. bipinnata (Chinese Flame tree) and K. elegans are also grown, and have the more brightly colored seed pods compared to K. paniculata (Goldentain Tree). Although, there are some K. paniculata cultivars that produce brighter pods than the species.

Koelreuteria has been widely planted in the area, but after a plant them everywhere phase, designers' attention wandered a bit. Some residential areas you can almost tell what period they were developed by the trees chosen.