Can Of Mice and Men be seen as a typical Local Color Story?

I would have to argue that no, it is not a typical local
color story, nor do I think that Steinbeck wrote it as such.  The characters are
certainly rich, and central to the story, but the Great Depression was nationwide
(worldwide) and Lennie and George's economic and personal situation were typical in all
regions, not just 1930s California. 

Candy is an elderly
man and physically challenged, which highlighted two groups all across the country who
were first hit and hardest hit by the Depression.

Women
were socially second class citizens, their opinions and feelings often disregarded in
the home and society.  Curley's wife is never given a proper name in the book, I think
to highlight this common--rather than local--situation.

And
lastly, take Crooks for example.  He is a segregated black man both legally and
socially, just like, at that time, virtually every other African-American in the
country.

Of Mice and Men is a social
commentary on a much grander social scale, told through the eyes and experiences of
typical Americans.